Kyle man arrested after altercation with minors during student protest in Buda

A 45-year-old man has been arrested after a student protest in Buda on Monday escalated into a violent confrontation.

Buda police identified 45-year-old Chad Michael Watts of Kyle as the primary aggressor in a fight with a minor during a walkout by hundreds of Hays CISD students on Monday, protesting immigration and law enforcement operations. Watts faces two counts of assault causing bodily injury. Both Watts and the girl involved reported minor injuries but declined medical evaluation.

A video obtained by CBS Austin, taken by a student at Moe and Gene Johnson High School, shows Watts outside his pickup truck, physically confronting a student. Then, you see students shouting and throwing objects as Watts walked toward his truck.

“So I was like, are they jumping this guy at first?” said Kim, a Johnson High School parent. “Then I realized, oh, wow, he’s an adult that actually probably started getting violent.”

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Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra described the incident as a stark reminder of the power imbalance between adults and minors.

“A full-grown adult on a young high school girl is a lot of power to overthrow, and so it took enough people around finally to get him off of her, and ultimately he went back into his truck and took off,” Becerra said.

State Rep. Erin Zwiener said students in Central Texas are motivated to protest because of personal and community experiences.

“We know we have students in our schools who have had family members disappear. Of course, they are engaged. Of course, they’re trying to protect their community,” she said.

CBS Austin reached out to Governor Greg Abbott’s office for comment. The governor’s team referred to a social media post he made about a separate walkout in Kyle, in which two students were arrested. In the post, Abbott wrote: “Disruptive walkouts allowed by schools lead to just this kind of chaos. Schools and staff who allow this behavior should be treated as co-conspirators and should not be immune to criminal behavior.”

The Texas Education Agency also released guidance Monday on student walkouts, noting that students must be marked absent and schools risk losing daily attendance funding if they allow or encourage walkouts.

Zwiener called on the governor to reduce tensions rather than attacking students for exercising their right to protest.

“I really want to call on Governor Abbott to help turn down the volume and instead of attacking these protesters, emphasize that it is everyone’s right to speak their voice and no one should be harassing someone else for their political engagement,” she said.

The Hays County District Attorney’s Office is now investigating. In a statement, Judge Becerra said, “No matter one’s political views, an adult bears a clear responsibility to exercise restraint, especially in the presence of children.”

The police investigation is ongoing to determine if additional charges will be filed.

Anyone with original evidence, witness statements, or relevant information should contact Hays County Dispatch at 512-393-7896 or Hays County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-32-TIPS.