Space X upsets the locals

[ThomasD]

SpaceX threatened with arrests as local authorities in Texas warn it may have committed a crime by using private security guards to block public roads​

Tyler Sonnemaker
Tue, June 15, 2021, 7:23 PM

SpaceX has had repeated run-ins with local authorities and residents stemming from its spaceport in Boca Chica, Texas. Loren Elliott/Getty Images

• Texas officials warned SpaceX it might have committed crimes by closing public roads, KGRW reported.
• In a letter, Cameron County DA Luis Saenz accused SpaceX of knowingly ignoring previous warnings.
• Saenz called the conduct "unacceptable" and threatened arrests for future violations.
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Local authorities have accused SpaceX of violating the law by attempting to block access to public roads around its spaceport in Boca Chica, Texas, according to the KGRW reporter Rudy Mireles.
SpaceX's security staff may have broken Texas laws against obstructing public roads and impersonating a public official - Class B misdemeanor and third-degree felony violations, respectively - Cameron County District Attorney Luis Saenz wrote in a letter to SpaceX, according to Mireles.
Saenz warned SpaceX that future violations could result in individual SpaceX employees or contractors being arrested as well as the company facing criminal prosecution, according to the letter.
Neither SpaceX nor Cameron County responded to a request from Insider for comment.
The letter Mireles obtained said that when members of Saenz's staff went to investigate a complaint that SpaceX had denied public access to two county roads near State Highway 4, a SpaceX security guard "immediately approached, stopped, and detained" them and ordered them to return to the highway.
Saenz's staff warned the SpaceX guard that Cameron County authorities hadn't given SpaceX permission to close the road, according to the letter.
"This conduct is unacceptable. And I strongly believe you, Mr. Patel, and Space-X, also knew it was unacceptable," Saenz wrote, according to Mireles, referring to SpaceX's senior director of Starship operations, Shyamal Patel, to whom the letter was addressed.
Saenz wrote Cameron County had separately in April warned SpaceX about similar conduct, according to Mireles.
Saenz also wrote that neither the security guard, who was wearing a bulletproof vest, nor SpaceX's head of security for the facility appeared to have proper security licenses and asked SpaceX to confirm whether its security staff was properly licensed and whether its security guards were armed.
SpaceX, which first bought land in Boca Chica in 2012, has frequently clashed with local officials and residents as it has attempted to build out its rocket facility, while some told Insider's Kate Duffy they're welcoming the economic boom it had created.
Read the original article on Busin

 

[dipper]

SpaceX also pissed off FAA too for not scrubbing launch as ordered last December. What is with Elon Musk's companies and not following the law?

 

[Grendal]

Bureaucracy in action. Is this really a large scale problem or is it one or two bureaucrats making themselves important?

 

[scaesare]

This article seems to indicate the Dec FAA scrub launch order situation may not have been outright flagrant violation, as much as some assumptions in an aggressive launch environment.

 

[Nikxice]

Cooler heads will prevail in Boca Chica. If anyone should be concerned about SpaceX's intentions to dominate barron landscape,

it's the Martians.

 

[Tesomega]

SpaceX also pissed off FAA too for not scrubbing launch as ordered last December. What is with Elon Musk's companies and not following the law?

Isn't that the reason he moved to Texas because he was fed-up with California Laws !.

 

[stopcrazypp]

Is this perhaps related to the whole trespassing controversy from last month? Maybe the security was stepped up and they got over zealous.

 

[dipper]

Isn't that the reason he moved to Texas because he was fed-up with California Laws !.

Guess he is hated everywhere.

He should move to Mars already. Martians will hate him too?

 

[HVM]

FAA defends SpaceX in front of Congress despite unauthorized Starship launch:

FAA defends SpaceX in front of Congress despite unauthorized Starship launch

The leader of the FAA's space office defended Elon Musk's SpaceX in front of Congress on Wednesday, despite an unauthorized Starship launch in December.

www.cnbc.com

 

[KG2V]

Here is a good question.
So, Tesla puts up warning signs "Hey, we HIGHLY recommend you don't go down this road", but don't close them, and launch anyway.

 

[HVM]

They are transferring 50 - 70m tall steel constructions, should they let every one just wander there at their merry way... Whole article is idiotic and lack any common sense.

 

[miimura]

They are transferring 50 - 70m tall steel constructions, should they let every one just wander there at their merry way... Whole article is idiotic and lack any common sense.

There are established procedures for road closures. Why can't SpaceX just follow the prescribed procedures?

BTW, this has nothing to do with launch operations, this is security contractors or SpaceX employees trying to deny passage on public roads on "normal" days.