DALLAS — Lee Merritt, a civil rights lawyer who has represented several North Texas families of Black people killed by police officers, said in a video posted to Twitter Saturday he is running for Texas attorney general.
Merritt floated the idea during remarks at a Friday protest at the Collin County Courthouse in response to the in-custody death of Marvin David Scott III. The attorney is representing the Scott family, and told a reporter that he was considering running against current Attorney General Ken Paxton.
“I accidentally made an announcement yesterday that I plan to run for Texas attorney general,” Merritt said on the video. “I intend to run.”
Besides the Scott case, Merritt has represented the families of Atatiana Jefferson, killed by a Fort Worth officer while standing in her home; Darius Tarver, shot dead by Denton police after wielding a frying pan and a knife; Jordan Edwards, killed by a Balch Springs officer who fired into a moving vehicle carrying teenagers leaving a party; and Botham Jean, killed in his apartment by an off-duty Dallas officer. He also represents the family of Ahmaud Arbery, who was killed while jogging in rural Georgia. Three white men face murder charges in that case.
Merritt has had a few public missteps, including representing a woman in 2018 whose claim of sexual assault by a state trooper was proved false after body camera footage showed no such incident occurred. Merritt apologized for bringing national attention to the fabrication.
“It is deeply troubling when innocent parties are falsely accused, and I am truly sorry for any trouble these claims may have caused Officer [Daniel] Hubbard and his family,” Merritt said in a statement at the time. “I take full responsibility for amplifying these claims to the point of national concern.”
Paxton’s tenure has been marred by state and federal investigations into corruption and misuse of public office. He faces charges of felony securities fraud in a 2015 case that has yet to be tried. He also is under FBI investigation for misuse of office and bribery.
In Merritt’s Twitter video, he said Paxton isn’t doing enough to train police and provide mental health services for those in crisis. He has said that both Scott and Tarver died while experiencing mental health crises.
“It’s clear [Paxton] doesn’t want to do his job, so I decided I’ll go ahead and take it,” Merritt said in the video released Saturday. “I’ll announce later.”
Merritt and Paxton both live in McKinney.
