“I have been speaking up my entire life,” Former State Representative Lon Burnam said.

TARRANT COUNTY, Texas — “Sometimes you have to pay a penalty for being in activism. I shouldn’t have to be paying this penalty,” said former State Representative Lon Burnam.

Burnam’s attorney is fighting to keep him out of jail after his arrest during a heated Tarrant County Commissioners Court meeting last month over proposed changes to voting locations.

Burnam was arrested after defending another speaker who picked up the microphone during public comment.

“When he picked up the microphone and turned around because he has issues. He’s on the spectrum. He needs respect,” Burnam said.

County Judge Tim O’Hare then ordered Burnam to put down the microphone.

“Mr. Burnam, you are disrupting the meeting again. I have asked you to set the microphone down. Please remove him,” O’Hare said.

“The county judge does not like that I continually challenge his failure to address numerous issues in county government,” Burnam said.

Burnam showed WFAA his jail ID card after being arrested and charged with hindering proceedings by disorderly conduct and disrupting a meeting, two misdemeanors.

The Class A Misdemeanor charge of hindering proceedings by disorderly conduct carries a maximum punishment of up to 365 days in jail and a fine of up to $4,000. The Class B Misdemeanor charge of disrupting a meeting or procession carries a maximum of 180 days in jail and a fine of up to $2,000.

Burnam has also filed a federal lawsuit against O’Hare and Tarrant County, alleging his First Amendment rights were violated. The lawsuit was filed Sept. 11 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

“The hope, at the end, for me, is that either the court or the DA, or a judge, or jury, will determine that there’s just not enough there, and that this case will go away,” said Tiffany Burks, Burnam’s attorney.

Burnam says this is not the first time he has been removed from Commissioners Court. Last year, Burnam says he was removed from Commissioners Court for defending Tarrant County Commissioner Alisa Simmons. She responded to his August 4th arrest.

“I would just tell Lon, I’m sorry. Because not only is, was he ejected, but now the whole legal process that he’s engaged in,” said Commissioner Alisa Simmons.

“When I ask you to move away from the microphone, please do not continue to try to speak,” O’Hare said during another Commissioners Court meeting.

To keep order during Commissioners Court meetings, O’Hare has repeatedly explained the rules governing public comment and ordered speakers away from the microphone when he says they are disrupting the meeting. The county’s rules of decorum include restrictions on disruptive or unruly behavior and allow speakers to be removed or temporarily barred from meetings for violating the rules.

In a separate lawsuit filed Sept. 9, Burnam seeks to have O’Hare removed from office, alleging he used the authority of his office to suppress protected speech and exclude members of the public from open meetings. Burnam said he was targeted by O’Hare for his point of view. 

“(Burnam) has attended multiple Commissioners Court meetings,” the lawsuit states. He has personally observed (O’Hare) interrupt, admonish, or remove speakers who criticize (him) or the Court. In (Burnam’s) observation, (O’Hare) has administered public-comment rules harshly and inconsistently, creating a reasonable fear that criticism may lead to expulsion, exclusion from later meetings, or arrest.”

O’Hare called the Sept. 9 lawsuit a political stunt. 

“Now, two months before Election Day, he wants a judge to overturn an election and couldn’t even clean the AI links out of his pleading. This is a sad political stunt. It won’t work.”

WFAA also asked O’Hare to sit down for an interview about Burnam’s actions and arrest during Commissioners Court. O’Hare declined to do an interview, but his spokesperson Ruth provided a statement that WFAA also shared with Burnam’s attorney:

Lon Burnam showed up to Commissioners Court with plans to disrupt the meeting. He refused to follow the duly adopted rules of decorum, which he has done repeatedly. He then refused to leave and dropped to the floor, so deputies had to carry him out. Now, two months before Election Day, he wants a judge to overturn an election and couldn’t even clean the AI links out of his pleading. This is a sad political stunt. It won’t work.

“I think the political stunt isn’t by Lon. I think the political stunt is by our current county judge,” said Burks.

Burks also told WFAA that neither she nor her legal team used AI as a tool to help in Lon Burnam’s defense.

Win or lose in court, Burnam says he remains committed to speaking out.

“I have been speaking up my entire life,” Burnam said.

Burnam says he’s an activist for life.