'Honored': Talarico endorsed by group that bailed out violent criminal later accused of mass murder
Democratic U.S. Senate nominee James Talarico said he was "honored" to receive the endorsement of the Texas Organizing Project, whose work he described as "irreplaceable" after the organization previously operated a charitable bail fund that helped secure the release of Shane James — later accused of carrying out a six-person killing spree.
The Texas Organizing Project (TOP), a progressive activist organization that endorsed Talarico's Senate campaign in May, previously operated a charitable bail program that, by September 2021, had distributed more than $1 million to secure the release of more than 675 defendants across Texas.
The program drew intense scrutiny in late 2023 after authorities accused James of killing six people and records revealed that TOP had posted his bail nearly two years earlier while he faced three misdemeanor family-assault charges involving his parents and a sibling.
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James cut off his court-ordered GPS monitor the day after his March 2022 release, prompting a court to issue three warrants for his re-arrest. Despite the outstanding warrants, James remained free for 21 months before authorities say he carried out a series of attacks across San Antonio and Austin that left six people dead, including his parents.
TOP acknowledged after the killings that it had bailed James out in coordination with the Bexar County public defender's office after his bond was reduced to a combined $300. The organization said James had passed its screening process based on the misdemeanor charges he faced at the time and stressed that bail organizations cannot predict defendants' future behavior.
"We acknowledge that our assessments cannot anticipate the future actions of individuals," TOP said following the killings, announcing that it would conduct an internal review of the program.
Talarico nevertheless enthusiastically welcomed TOP's endorsement earlier this year.
"I am honored to earn this endorsement," Talarico said when the group announced its backing, praising TOP for spending more than 15 years developing relationships in Black and Latino communities across Texas.
"That infrastructure is irreplaceable," he said.
The endorsement announcement said TOP members had met with Talarico before backing him, while the organization's leadership said the Senate candidate had demonstrated familiarity with its work.
Talarico is challenging Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in one of the nation's most closely watched Senate races, as Democrats seek to break a decades-long losing streak in statewide Texas elections.
Shane James was not the only defendant released through TOP's program who subsequently encountered additional legal trouble.
A 2024 KSAT investigation found TOP had bonded defendants out in at least 196 Bexar County cases since jail officials began specifically tracking the organization's activity in October 2022. Warrants were later issued for defendants' re-arrest in 58 of those cases, or nearly 30%. While failure to appear in court was the most common reason for those warrants, records showed some defendants also faced new criminal charges after TOP secured their release.
Among them was Benjamin Sanchez Jr., a convicted felon with two prior burglary convictions who TOP bonded out 11 days after his arrest in connection with the burglary of a San Antonio souvenir store. A warrant for Sanchez's re-arrest was later issued after pretrial violations that included his arrest on new burglary charges, according to KSAT. He ultimately pleaded guilty in the two newer burglary cases and was sentenced to six years in prison.
TOP has defended its bail work as an effort to prevent low-income defendants from remaining incarcerated simply because they cannot afford bond. The organization said in 2021 that its Right2Justice campaign had spent more than $1 million to bail out more than 675 people, with the vast majority of the money distributed in Bexar County.
The organization's bail advocacy also intersected with Talarico's legislative record.
TOP opposed HB 20 during the 2021 Texas legislative session, describing efforts to restrict community bail funds as part of a "right-wing assault" on the organizations. Talarico voted against a House version of HB 20 in May 2021, according to the Texas House Journal.
Talarico's campaign pushed back on the significance of that vote in a statement to Fox News Digital, arguing that the version he opposed differed substantially from the legislation ultimately considered later in the process, and pointing to his more recent support for tougher bail restrictions.
"James will always work to keep Texans safe. That's why he voted to deny bail for violent criminals, supports prosecuting violent felons, and backed Governor Abbott's bill that was called the 'strongest bail reform package in Texas history,'" Talarico campaign spokesperson JT Ennis told Fox News Digital.
"The only candidate in this race endangering women and children is Ken Paxton, who cut an Epstein-style sweetheart deal that let a pedophile back on our streets after just 29 days in jail," Ennis added.
The campaign pointed Fox News Digital to Talarico's 2025 vote for part of a bail reform package championed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. The package included a constitutional amendment expanding the circumstances under which judges could deny bail to defendants accused of certain serious violent crimes.
The campaign also argued that the 2021 House version of HB 20 that Talarico opposed contained broader provisions unrelated to charitable bail organizations, and noted criticism at the time that the proposal would continue allowing potentially dangerous defendants with sufficient money to secure their own release.