Why the NRA's spokesperson thinks Houston police are watching her

NRA spokesperson Dana Loesch and Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo exchanged blows over gun reform on social media this week.

See how much money the NRA has given Texas Congress members. NRA spokesperson Dana Loesch and Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo exchanged blows over gun reform on social media this week.

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National Rifle Association spokesperson Dana Loesch wants to know if Houston's finest are watching her.

The absurd notion comes from a lengthy Twitter feud with Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo that began earlier this week.

Last Friday, the chief made national headlines when he spoke out after the Santa Fe shooting and inadvertently joined the gun reform debate.

"I know some have strong feelings about gun rights but I want you to know I've hit rock bottom and I am not interested in your views as it pertains to this issue," Acevedo wrote on Facebook. "Please do not post anything about guns aren't the problem and there's little we can do."

Acevedo's comments quickly went viral and by Sunday morning he was on CBS's "Face the Nation."

"People at the state level and the federal level and too many places in our country are not doing anything other than offering prayers," Acevedo said on the program.

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When asked what safety measures could have prevented the loss of 10 lives in Santa Fe, Acevedo suggested criminal liabilities for people who did not secure easily accessible firearms in their home.

"When there's skin in the game for all weapons owners including myself I think that people will have a different outlook," he said.

On Monday, the comments caught the attention of Loesch, who spoke about "exposing Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo" on NRATV and criticized Acevedo for his objection to Texas' sanctuary city laws.

"@ArtAcevedo is a police chief who thinks it's completely appropriate to ignore the law of the land when it concerns legal immigration...but thinks that he has the right to apparently go into every home in Texas and inspect how everybody's storing their #firearms." —@DLoesch #NRA pic.twitter.com/bqb1TKnUWM — NRATV (@NRATV) May 21, 2018

Acevedo punched back. In tweet replying to the NRA, the police chief said the firearms lobby was "losing the moral high ground" and trying to "deflect from [the] issue at hand."

Here we go, @NRATV is losing the moral high ground on what was once their core values, so let’s try to talk about anything and everything under the Sun to deflect from issue at hand. We know we are on the right track when that happens. https://t.co/sP5tGB45Gn — Chief Art Acevedo (@ArtAcevedo) May 22, 2018

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The next day, Loesch brought up Acevedo again, describing his reply as an "epic Twitter meltdown" and repeating her criticism of the chief.

“So Chief @ArtAcevedo, you support sanctuary city laws. You support lawlessness and law-breaking. You don’t get to cherry-pick what laws that you support … And you don’t get to lecture law-abiding Americans on what you think we should be able to do with our #2A.” – @DLoesch pic.twitter.com/WPWndmYhri — NRATV (@NRATV) May 22, 2018

Acevedo replied again, blasting Loesch for misrespsenting his views and theatning to take Losech to court.

Like I was saying, blah, blah, blah. Stop misrepresenting &/or lying about my views. Your action is leading to harassment by your minions. You may just make testing the limits of your dishonesty & cyber bullying worthwhile in Court. Many top-notch firms would do so pro-bono. pic.twitter.com/KirUT42u5P — Chief Art Acevedo (@ArtAcevedo) May 23, 2018

Lastly, I will not respond any further to you on any platform outside of a legal process. Be on notice that we will be watching and will do our talking in a court of Law if the need arises. Good day. https://t.co/xGKhMfaDqq — Chief Art Acevedo (@ArtAcevedo) May 23, 2018

Reached out to @houstonpolice re the thread below where @ArtAcevedo says “we will be watching” after I criticized his stance on sanctuary cities. I want confirmation if taxpayer dollars are being used to surveil citizens who criticize political appointees’ public remarks. https://t.co/15kzl9eNp8 — Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) May 24, 2018

Good night @NRATV, your desperation is evident by your attacks. Your are on the wrong side of history & responsible gun owners & the pragmatic American people, led by the youth of our great Nation, will ultimately win the day, and we will do so while honoring the 2nd Amendment. https://t.co/ZPsU65vIuk — Chief Art Acevedo (@ArtAcevedo) May 22, 2018

Now, Loesch continues to antognize Acevedo by floating the idea that Houston police are watching her.

I forgot to ask this last night @ArtAcevedo : when you told me that “we will be watching” (as a result of you disliking my remarks on your reported-on support of sanctuary city policies), are you using the resources of the Houston PD to watch me? AM I under surveillance? https://t.co/VG5U2M5rdu — Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) May 23, 2018

Acevedo has yet to publicly respond (not to suggest he should), although on Tuesday, the chief spoke with the Houston Chronicle and elaborated his views on gun reform that put him in the spotlight.

"The 'party of law enforcement' may not care, but you know what? They're not the ones burying our officers," he said.

Fernando Ramirez is a reporter for Chron.com and the Houston Chronicle. You can follow him on Twitter at @fernramirez93.