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Two years after the most high-profile mass shooting in recent Austin, Texas, history, the family of a man killed in the chaos says they still have not found closure or justice thanks to a Soros-backed district attorney they say has re-victimized them.
Doug Kantor, then 25 and working for Ford Motor Co., was visiting Austin from Michigan on the night of June 12, 2021, to celebrate earning his master's degree with friends when two rival gangs of teenagers from Killeen, Texas, opened fire on each other in the city's packed Sixth Street entertainment and nightlife hub.
Kantor was killed and 14 others were injured in one of the largest mass shootings in Austin history. Two years later, the man believed to have fired the shots that killed Kantor still hasn’t faced trial and the victim's family told Fox News Digital they believe Soros-funded Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza is a big reason why.
"It's very clear that his focus and attention is not on this case," Nick Kantor told Fox News Digital this week reflecting on the two-year anniversary of his brother’s death and the way Garza, who has been widely criticized for soft-on-crime policies, has handled the case.
Doug and Nick Kantor alongside Travis County DA Jose Garza (Kantor Family | City of Austin)
Earlier this year, Kantor explained to Fox News Digital he believed Garza’s office had put the shooting on the "back burner" and cited Garza’s move to pull prosecutors off the case and not pursue charges against the several gang members who were at the scene with illegal guns, which could have potentially compelled them to testify against the alleged shooter, De’Ondre White, in exchange for lesser charges and strengthen the case.
Additionally, Kantor says Garza has missed meetings, ignored emails, and the trial was pushed back from March to August because his office did not provide evidence to the defense in a timely manner.
"He’s doing things that are clearly causing distress on the trial and on the overall outcome of the case and for getting justice for my brother," Kantor said in March.
The issues have continued as recently as last week when Kantor says he found out that Garza’s office, after initially saying they would push to allow him or his mother to testify as a character witness in the trial, is now pushing for a friend of Doug Kantor’s to testify instead.
Family members, friends, and community members release balloons in memory of Douglas Kantor in downtown Austin, Texas, on June 12, 2022. (Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman/USA Today Network)
The uncertainty of the delays, the lack of communication from Garza’s office, and the lack of charges for the others involved in the crime has created a form of revictimization, Kantor explained to Fox News Digital.
"Ever since my brother's been gone, we haven't really been able to get to the next phase," Kantor said. "We're not, we're not necessarily done with the tragedy because the case is still going. The tragedy is still happening for us."
"The whole tragedy hasn't fully completed yet. So in order to deal with something, you know, to deal with a tragedy or to deal with the loss, the whole picture has got to be painted so that we can figure out ways to try to cope with it. And because it's been delayed, the trial's been delayed so, so long and we don't know what's going to happen. It's really hard to be able to start to accept something that we haven't really known yet."
The concept of revictimization is something that several families of crime victims have told Fox News Digital has resulted from Garza’s actions since he took office in January 2021 after running on a platform that included prosecuting police officers and "re-imagining" policing.
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Austin, Texas skyline (Reuters/Brian Snyder)
"The prosecution is acting more like defense attorneys than they are prosecutors," Dennis Farris, president of the Austin Police Retired Officers Association, told Fox News Digital earlier this year.
"Whatever his skewed view of what criminal justice reform is, isn't working. It sure isn't working for the victims. It used to be that they got the victims' buy-in before offering plea bargains. Now it doesn't appear he's even doing that, because they're not even communicating with them, and that's what's leading to the revictimization of these families."
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Since the 6th Street shooting, Garza has made good on his campaign promises and indicted over 20 Austin police officers for their roles in subduing a Black Lives Matter riot in the wake of George Floyd’s death while also working to convict Army Sgt. Daniel Perry to 25 years in prison for shooting an armed Black Lives Matter protester who approached his car with a raised AK-47 style weapon.
As for Garza’s motivations, Kantor said, "It's kind of like getting to a point where it seems like purposeful that he's neglecting this case because he maybe hopes that it will lose traction in the media and the longer it goes on, the less people care and maybe another tragedy happens."
"I truly believe that's part of what it is and the other part is that this is just not something that he sees as opportunistic for his career."
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Garza’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital but provided the following statement in March: "This case remains a high priority for our office, and we continue to do everything possible to ensure justice is served."
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