DOJ weighs civil rights probe into Fort Worth police over alleged First Amendment violations
The Justice Department is seeking information from the City of Fort Worth to determine whether to launch a civil rights investigation into the Fort Worth Police Department after publicly posted videos appeared to show officers restricting Christian street preachers' speech based on its content.A Monday letter from Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Harmeet Dhillon asked Fort Worth City Attorney Hon. Guzman to help them determine if they should investigate the Texas city's police department after videos showed officers potentially violating people’s First Amendment rights."The Civil Rights Division (Division) is committed to ensuring that all Americans—regardless of the content or viewpoint of their speech—are protected from unlawful restrictions on expressive activity," Dhillon wrote.
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The Justice Department is seeking information from the City of Fort Worth to determine whether to launch a civil rights investigation into the Fort Worth Police Department after publicly posted videos appeared to show officers restricting Christian street preachers' speech based on its content.A Monday letter from Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Harmeet Dhillon asked Fort Worth City Attorney Hon. Guzman to help them determine if they should investigate the Texas city's police department after videos showed officers potentially violating people’s First Amendment rights."The Civil Rights Division (Division) is committed to ensuring that all Americans—regardless of the content or viewpoint of their speech—are protected from unlawful restrictions on expressive activity," Dhillon wrote. "Government actors may not engage in viewpoint discrimination or restrict peaceful expressive conduct simply because the speech may be unpopular, offensive, or controversial. The Supreme Court long has held that the First Amendment prohibits government discrimination against speech based on its message, including discrimination tied to the specific motivating ideology or the opinion or perspective of the speaker."ARKANSAS TAKES HOME TOP RANKING FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AFTER GOV SANDERS EXPANDS KEY PROTECTIONSIn a statement to Fox News Digital last week, the Fort Worth Police Department acknowledged that an officer made "certain statements that were not accurate" during a viral encounter last month with a Christian street preacher outside a Pride festival, while maintaining that the citation he received stemmed from the use of a bullhorn that allegedly violated the city's noise ordinance, not the content of the preacher's speech.Officers responded to a June 27 incident at Trinity Pride Fest after nearby business owners complained that the amplified sound disrupted their operations and drove away customers.Rich Penkoski, a Christian street preacher, was on hand to speak in protest of the festival.FAR-LEFT HOUSE CANDIDATE RIPPED FOR 'DISGUSTING' VOTE ON MISGENDERING BILL: 'DISQUALIFYING'Penkoski said in a video posted on X on July 8: "Fort Worth Police officer says calling a biological male a male is a gray area that could be citable at some point and then says he can't do anything about half naked men running around children at pride."In the video, a male Fort Worth police officer said calling a biological male a "sir" is a "gray area" and that he would potentially ticket people for "offensive" language.Penkoski, along with fellow preacher David Grisham, appeared in another July 8 video he reposted on X from Libs of TikTok where a female officer said, "If someone is offended by your talking, then we have a problem.""You're going to ticket us for 'offensive' speech?" a man asked the female officer in the video.INSIDE TRUMP'S UNPRECEDENTED BATTLE PLAN TO EXPAND SECOND AMENDMENT RIGHTS THROUGH JUSTICE DEPARTMENT"Yes, absolutely," the female cop responded, saying it was called disorderly conduct."The biggest issue I think that I have is just the conversations and the way that we were describing what is lawful, what is not lawful," Fort Worth Police Chief Eddie Garcia told WFAA about the incident, later adding, "When we're right, we're right.
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- The Justice Department is seeking information from the City of Fort Worth to determine whether to launch a civil rights investigation into the Fort Worth Police Department after publicly posted videos appeared to show officers restricting Christian street preachers' speech based on its content.A Monday letter from Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Harmeet Dhillon asked Fort Worth City Attorney Hon. Guzman to help them determine if they should investigate the Texas city's police department after videos showed officers potentially violating people’s First Amendment rights."The Civil Rights Division (Division) is committed to ensuring that all Americans—regardless of the content or viewpoint of their speech—are protected from unlawful restrictions on expressive activity," Dhillon wrote.
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DOJ weighs civil rights probe into Fort Worth police over alleged First Amendment violations
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