Officers 'On Watch' After North Texas Lawmaker Receives Threats

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AUSTIN (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — Law enforcement is being extra-vigilant with a North Texas Republican legislator who has received threats over a bill that would limit independent bloggers filming police.

Dallas Rep. Jason Villalba's spokeswoman Jordan Hunter said Villalba hasn't been assigned a security detail at the Texas Capitol.

But she said that state troopers are "on watch" and Dallas police are "regularly checking on him and his family."

Hunter said threats received via phone and Facebook contained "alarming language."

Villalba's bill would make it a misdemeanor for anyone but traditional news media to record police within 25 feet, or within 100 feet if the person carries a handgun. It'll be heard in committee Thursday.

In the past Villalba explained that he proposed the bill for officers' safety and fully supports more police accountability.

[tweet https://twitter.com/JasonVillalba/status/576156978709278721 width='330']

In January, Democratic Rep. Poncho Nevarez was assigned a security detail following a confrontation with gun activists in his Capitol office.

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