The video shows an officer threatening to cite a street preacher outside Fort Worth Pride Fest in June.
FORT WORTH, Texas — Fort Worth Police Chief Eddie Garcia says his department is taking responsibility after a viral video showing an officer threatening to cite a street preacher outside Fort Worth Pride Fest sparked criticism over free speech and allegations of bias.
“The biggest issue that I have is just the conversations and the way that we were describing what is lawful, what is not lawful,” Garcia told WFAA.
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The video shows veteran Fort Worth Officer Sarah Stogner telling street preacher David Grisham and others protesting outside the festival that they could receive citations for disorderly conduct because of their speech.
“When we’re right, we’re right, and when we’re wrong, we’re wrong,” Garcia said. “There certainly was a better way to have that communication, and we were wrong in the manner in which we communicated that. Certainly, we’re going to take accountability for it.”
Garcia said that accountability includes department-wide First Amendment training. He said the command staff has already completed refresher training, with sergeants and officers next in line.
“We just trained up our command staff again with refresher courses. We’re going to be training our sergeants. We’re going to be training our officers,” Garcia said.
Civil rights attorney CJ Grisham, who represents David Grisham, said the constitutional concerns extend beyond the viral exchange. He said another officer issued his client a citation for misuse of a bullhorn during the protest.
“They have already violated their rights,” Grisham said, arguing the citation is not supported by Fort Worth’s noise ordinance. “It doesn’t meet the noise violation ordinance in any way whatsoever. So, just on its face, the charge is baseless,” he said.
He also claims Stogner engaged in similar conduct during last year’s Pride festival and believes the incident reflects a broader problem within the department. WFAA has requested information related to Stogner’s employment history and any previous investigations.
“We have her on video doing this last year at the Pride festival. So, this is a pattern of abuse by Officer Stogner. But it’s not just her. Look at how many other officers were standing around,” Grisham said.
Garcia said the First Amendment training will be conducted in person. When asked whether the department would also provide additional implicit bias training, Garcia said there may be other types of training that could benefit officers.
While acknowledging that the officer’s handling of the encounter fell short, Garcia said he does not want the incident to define the Fort Worth Police Department.
“We are not a perfect profession, and officers will make mistakes from time to time,” Garcia said.