Austin City Council District 1 candidate Misael Ramos was released from Travis County Jail shortly after 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26, after spending nearly eight hours in custody on a misdemeanor charge of participating in a riot. The charge stems from a Sept. 20 protest in North Austin over the fatal shooting of Wilber Rafael Garces Perez by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer. Ramos was arrested Saturday morning by Texas Department of Public Safety troopers, according to his account at a gathering outside the jail attended by more than 200 supporters. Ramos said he was walking his dog when a man in a car asked whether he was the council candidate and then told him there was a warrant for his arrest. Ramos said the man put a hand on his gun after the dog snapped at him. Several vehicles then arrived, and a group of men surrounded Ramos, he said. A neighbor filmed the encounter, according to Ramos, while a nearby store worker took the dog home. Ramos said he did not know why he was being arrested until he arrived at the jail. His attorney, Skip Davis, shared a probable-cause affidavit that describes the Sept. 20 demonstration as a riot. The document alleges that Ramos dragged a traffic-control device and sandbags into the street to block traffic without authorization. Davis told supporters he had not seen protest footage showing conduct that amounted to a riot and questioned how investigators identified Ramos, who was not arrested at the scene. He speculated that authorities may have used artificial intelligence or facial-recognition technology to identify people in social-media videos. The account did not establish that such technology was used. George Lobb of the Austin Lawyer’s Guild said one condition of Ramos’ release bars him from participating in further protests. Lobb said that restriction raises First Amendment concerns and that other people involved in the protest had also been arrested this week on what he called “bogus DPS warrants.” Guild attorney Paul Quinzi said a separate probable-cause affidavit he had reviewed suggested as many as 20 people could face arrest warrants related to the demonstration. The affidavit estimates that about 150 people were present and alleges that at least 20 engaged in acts including assault, highway obstruction or criminal mischief. Those allegations have not been adjudicated. DPS had not responded to a request for information about the number of arrests by the time of publication. The case comes amid scrutiny of law enforcement responses to protests and of any restrictions placed on people’s ability to demonstrate.