HOUSTON, Texas (KBTX) – Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo was escorted out of NRG Stadium during the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s sold-out Megan Moroney concert on March 10, setting off a two-day public feud that ended Thursday when HLSR voted to strip her of her Ex-Officio Director status.
Hidalgo said she was grabbed, shoved, and threatened with arrest by rodeo security. The rodeo said she tried to access a premium area without the required ticket.
The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is one of the largest events of its kind in the world, generating a major economic impact for the Houston region and awarding millions of dollars in scholarships to Texas students annually.
Harris County owns NRG Stadium and leases it to HLSR. As county judge, Hidalgo held the title of Ex-Officio Director of the Rodeo — a role she cited as the basis for her belief that she had access to the event’s premium “dirt” area, also known as the chute seats, which are priced at $425 each.
What Hidalgo said happened
Hidalgo said she attended the concert with several guests, including a fellow elected official and her two children, and the parents of recently deceased U.S. Air Force First Sgt. David Saravia, who died Dec. 31 at age 29. The Saravia family is also parents of an active-duty military service member. Hidalgo said it was the first public event the family had attended since their son’s death.
When she attempted to enter the chute area, rodeo staff told her she needed a wristband — something she said had never been required of her before.
“I have always been allowed on the dirt based on the county’s relationship with the rodeo, regardless of wristband,” Hidalgo wrote in a letter to HLSR Chairwoman Pat Mann Phillips and President/CEO Chris Boleman. “Nobody has ever told me I needed a special pass to access the dirt.”
Hidalgo said staff then blocked her guests, grabbed and shoved her, and threatened her with arrest. She offered to leave if her guests could stay, but said the rodeo removed them anyway, including Saravia’s parents, who were located in the dirt area and escorted out before the show ended.
She also described a moment when a man heckled one of the children. When the child’s mother asked a rodeo official to intervene, Hidalgo wrote the official responded: “Well, I told you to leave” — a request, she noted, that had never been made of the mother or children.
In social media posts, Hidalgo identified John Presley as the HLSR head of security and said he escorted her out of the stadium and to her vehicle.
“If this is how they treat me — the Ex-Officio Director of the rodeo, landlord, because NRG Stadium belongs to Harris County — how do they treat everybody else?” she wrote on Facebook.
What the rodeo said
HLSR’s initial statement said Hidalgo “attempted to access the dirt area without a valid chute seat ticket” and that her group “was directed back to their ticketed seating.”
According to KPRC 2, HLSR officials were notified of Hidalgo’s plans to attend on March 10 — the same day as the concert. Because the show was sold out, officials informed her she could not receive chute wristbands and would need to use her suite tickets.
In an updated statement Thursday, signed by Phillips and Boleman, HLSR wrote: “We have paying guests who invest in [the chute seat] experience, and our volunteers and staff work hard to ensure those guests receive what they paid for.”
According to KPRC 2, Hidalgo had been gifted 21 chute tickets during the 2026 rodeo season — valued at nearly $9,000 — and had attended three prior concerts: J Balvin, Forrest Frank, and Luke Bryan. She is also the only elected official to have requested chute tickets during the 2026 HLSR season, according to KPRC 2.
Recordings released
Late Wednesday, Hidalgo released two videos and two audio recordings of the incident on social media, in which she can be heard pleading with security not to remove the children from the venue.
Thursday afternoon, she posted that she had received security footage from the rodeo but had not found “any relevant footage.” Shortly after, she announced HLSR had voted to revoke her Ex-Officio Director status — the very role she had cited as the basis for her access.
The Houston Police Officers’ Union also weighed in, posting a satirical AI-generated comic on Facebook depicting a woman resembling Hidalgo being led away from the rodeo by an officer.
Below are each of Hidalgo’s social media posts.
What’s next
Hidalgo has requested full security footage from the night, including footage from the chute area, the suite, and her escort out of the stadium. She expressed concern about missing angles or timestamps.
As of Thursday, HLSR had not publicly addressed Hidalgo’s specific allegations regarding the treatment of the Saravia family or the children.
Copyright 2026 KBTX. All rights reserved.