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

• Texas officials warned SpaceX it may have committed crimes by closing public roads, KGRW reported.
• In a letter, Cameron County DA Louis 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 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 for comment on this story.

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, according to the letter Mireles obtained.

Saenz’s staff then warned the SpaceX guard 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 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 security staff are properly licensed and whether its security guards are 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, according to The Wall Street Journal, while some told Insider’s Kate Duffy they’re welcoming the economic boom it has created.