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"\\nAmid the raucous fight over the abortion-restriction bill in Texas last week, the Department of Public Safety said it had stopped protestors from entering the capitol with jars of \"suspected\" excrement\u2014part of a diabolical plan to pelt the senators, disrupting passage of the bill. This week, some skeptical Texans, including Democratic state representative Donna Howard, looked into that. Turns out, there's no evidence\u2014no jars, no documentation, no names of perps. And when reporters from the San Antonio Express-News and Texas Tribune went around the capitol questioning security officers, none of the officers could confirm that they had encountered protestors with any such jars of crap.\n\tAdvertisement - Continue Reading Below\n\t\n\nThe Texas Department of Public Safety first reported the news of the suspicious jars last Friday. Early this week, Howard fired off a public letter to Steven McCraw, the director of the agency, asking about the evidence and documentation. McCraw wrote in response that officers \"never took possession of these items and had no justification to do so.\" He explained, \"The possession of these and other items is not a crime, and therefore, there was no basis to arrest and detain visitors who possessed such items; however, they were denied access unless they discarded the items.\" \n\nNo names of suspects were recorded, McCraw said, as it would be \"unreasonable to document names of visitors based upon what they might or might not do.\"He also explained why officers had banned tampons and maxi pads from the capitol on the same day as the jars\u2014a move that sparked mockery across the blogosphere. \"The department received reports that some visitors planned to throw feminine hygiene products onto the Senate floor,\" McCraw said. \"One woman attempted to enter the Senate gallery with approximately 100 feminine hygiene products, and she was denied access, as were two men who possessed approximately 50 feminine hygiene products each.\" Howard was unconvinced. \"At the end of the day, we are still left with unsubstantiated claims, allegations of suspicious jars, but no actual evidence,\" she said, according to the Express-News. \"The lack of onsite documentation or eyewitnesses\u2014either from officers or members of the public\u2014seems to undercut the assertions laid out in DPS' original press release and now their response letter. To be frank, it doesn't pass the smell test.\"Follow Abigail on Twitter @AbigailPesta"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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