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New security measures at Tarrant Commissioners Court after officials receive ‘credible threats’

Tarrant County Commissioner Manny Ramirez listen to a speaker during commissioners court Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024, in Fort Worth.
Yfat Yossifor
/
KERA
Tarrant County Commissioner Manny Ramirez listens to a speaker during commissioners court Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024, in Fort Worth.

People attending Tuesday’s Tarrant County Commissioners Court meeting were welcomed with new security measures: a walk-through metal detector, wand scanners and bag checks.

These procedures are unusual for commissioners court meetings. Before, people could walk right into the county administration building in downtown Fort Worth.

That changed after commissioners received "threats to their safety,” Republican County Commissioner Manny Ramirez said Tuesday, as he implored the audience to cool down. The last two commissioners court meetings have seen multiple confrontations between law enforcement and the public, with people getting sent to jail for alleged disruptions.

“I know that policy issues might become controversial at times, and it might be easy to talk in hyperbole and get reactions, but everybody up here knows the reality,” Ramirez said. “And I trust that everybody up here is trying to fight to bring change to Tarrant County that actually impacts the citizens and makes their lives better.”

Ramirez did not give any details about the threats or say which commissioners were threatened.

The Tarrant County Sheriff's Office would not provide information about specific threats "due to security concerns," but said it will investigate those responsible for any threats, according to a written statement sent by spokesperson Robbie Hoy.

"Any threat of violence aimed at County personnel and/or elected officials will be investigated and those responsible will be prosecuted. We can have disagreements on policy or politics, but threats against our civil servants crosses the line," the statement reads.

The statement blames the media and members of the public for a "recent increase in negative commentary" that "has led some people to think it’s acceptable to make threatening statements towards our civil servants."

"We ask everyone—both the public and the media—to support peaceful, democratic processes and conduct themselves in an appropriate manner," the statement reads.

Tarrant County sheriff's deputies argue with CJ Grisham, an attorney, outside a Tarrant County Commissioners Court meeting Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. Grisham said he carried his gun into the building and was told he could not, before being let go.
Yfat Yossifor
/
KERA
Tarrant County sheriff's deputies argue with CJ Grisham, an attorney, outside a Tarrant County Commissioners Court meeting Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. Grisham said he carried his gun into the building and was told he could not, before being let go.

UTA lecturer Charlie Hermes was arrested at both meetings in January — once after he shouted at commissioners from his seat, and once after clapping for a speaker after he was warned to stay quiet.

Manuel Mata, who often films government meetings and other news events, also went to jail after he filmed an argument between one meeting attendee, CJ Grisham, and a sheriff’s deputy.

Grisham and the deputy were arguing over whether Grisham was allowed to carry a gun in the county administration building. Grisham was cuffed and detained but not arrested or brought to jail.

Ramirez wants kids in Tarrant County to be able to watch a meeting livestream and be proud, he said.

“Right now, I can’t say that I’d like my daughters to watch this,” he said.

Commissioners court meetings are the public’s opportunity to speak directly to elected officials.

In the past few years, most public comment has focused on conditions in the Tarrant County Jail,, where the number of deaths has raised alarm.

Last year, two former jailers were indicted for murder in the asphyxiation death of Anthony Johnson Jr.

Several people, involved in local churches and activist groups, show up at every meeting to push for jail reform. But the December death of Mason Yancy spurred a new group to action. Yancy was a gun rights activist, and his friends and fellow 2nd Amendment supporters started attending commissioners court meetings in January.

Whitney Blythe holds up a photo of Mason Yancy, who died in the jail recently, during a vigil outside the Tarrant County Jail on Friday, Jan, 3, 2024, in downtown Fort Worth. The vigil was led was for the nearly 70 people who have died in the jail since 2017.
Yfat Yossifor
/
KERA
Whytney Blythe holds up a photo of Mason Yancy, who died in the jail recently, during a vigil outside the Tarrant County Jail on Friday, Jan. 3, 2024, in downtown Fort Worth. The vigil was led was for the nearly 70 people who have died in the jail since 2017.

Daniel Wood is one of them. He criticized the court for its new decorum policy, which it adopted at its meeting last week. Elected officials should be more focused on emulating jails that don’t have in-custody deaths, he said.

“Clearly, they're doing something that’s working, and you should be doing everything in your power to find those answers, instead of spending your time on creating policies that punish people for uttering a few swear words,” Wood said.

CJ Grisham, an open carry activist and an attorney, was the one detained at the first meeting in January. At last week's meeting, he was ejected from the courtroom after he cussed during his public comment time. Foul language is banned in both the new and old decorum policies.

Carolyn Rodriguez, a local YouTuber who films interactions with police, got arrested after she took the podium in Grisham’s defense, rattling off swear words herself and yelling "[Expletive] you!" after she got kicked out.

The new decorum policy went into effect at the meeting Tuesday. It lays out when people can get expelled from meetings, for what reason, and how long they can be banned from the building. It clarifies some of the questions raised last year when people were kicked out of meetings but got varying punishments.

Got a tip? Email Miranda Suarez at msuarez@kera.org.

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Miranda Suarez is KERA’s Tarrant County accountability reporter. Before coming to North Texas, she was the Lee Ester News Fellow at Wisconsin Public Radio, where she covered statewide news from the capital city of Madison. Miranda is originally from Massachusetts and started her public radio career at WBUR in Boston.