Last week, he used profanity in a public government meeting. On Wednesday morning, he was in jail.
Fort Worth police arrested Efrin “EJ” Carrion around 3 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 12, on a warrant from Tarrant County, his friend Alexander Montalvo said.
Montalvo and Carrion were out late celebrating after Fort Worth City Council began the process to restrict data centers, a decision the pair among many others have been pushing for.
Around 2:15 a.m. Wednesday, Carrion on the phone with Montalvo while driving home when he said there were police pulling him over. The next time Montalvo heard from his friend, Carrion was in police custody under a warrant from Tarrant County.
On Aug. 4, Carrion was kicked out of the Tarrant County Commissioners Court meeting after he twice used a profane word during his minute of public comment. He said the Republicans’ extremism and the Republican court members themselves were baloney, in choice terms.
The Tarrant County decorum policy prohibits personal attacks and impertinent, profane, obscene or slanderous remarks.
Promptly after, County Judge Tim O’Hare told sheriff’s deputies to remove Carrion from the meeting, but he was already leaving. On his way out, Carrion called O’Hare a “small man” and “crybaby.”
Carrion was the first of five people kicked out of the court that day, including the arrest of former Texas Rep. Lon Burnam for picking up the microphone in support of another man who was kicked out for doing the same.
It was the second time Carrion has been removed from a Commissioners Court meeting this year. He frequents the court meetings and is often signed up for public comment.
O’Hare also ordered the public be cleared from the courtroom Tuesday because of continual disruptions related to the proposed cuts to Election Day polling sites.
“Contrary to what some of you may think, I have no interest whatsoever in throwing people out of a room,” O’Hare said at the Aug. 4 meeting. “I have no interest whatsoever in having any disruptions. But if we have more disruptions, we’re going to do it again. We’re going to clear it out. Why don’t we all avoid that?”
In January 2025, the Commissioners Court approved a policy along party lines giving sheriff’s deputies the ability to issue trespass warnings to anyone in violation of the decorum policy. The court revisited the policy again in February.
“Free speech does not mean anyone can cause whatever chaos, say whatever foul-mouth thing, do whatever agitation, do whatever disrupting or campaign at a government business meeting,” O’Hare said at the Feb. 10 meeting. “It has never meant that, nor does it mean you can speak at a business meeting an unlimited amount of time on every issue you choose to do.”
Wednesday morning, Carrion was booked into the Tarrant County Jail under a charge of disrupting a meeting or procession. He has not yet been released, as of 9 a.m. Wednesday.
Fort Worth police and the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Rachel Royster is a news and government reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, specifically focused on Tarrant County. She joined the newsroom after interning at the Austin American-Statesman, the Waco Tribune-Herald and Capital Community News in DC. A Houston native and Baylor grad, Rachel enjoys traveling, reading and being outside. She welcomes any and all news tips to her email.