Dallas cancels permit for anti-Trump protest near GOP convention

Many signs at the No Kings protest in Dallas didn’t require further explanation.

Charles Farmer

The city of Dallas has canceled a special event permit for a planned anti-Trump demonstration ahead of the Republican Midterm Convention.

According to an email obtained by the Observer, officials in the Office of Special Events canceled a permit application Tuesday afternoon for an anti-Trump march planned near the American Airlines Center. A Dallas Police Department spokesperson confirmed in an emailed statement Wednesday morning that the city had canceled the permit.

Organizers with the Dallas Against Trump Agenda coalition, a collection of multiple left-wing advocacy groups, applied for a special event permit in early August. The group plans to organize a march from Pike Park, just north of the arena, before staging a protest outside the convention on Sept. 10, regardless of whether the city signs off on the plans, organizers said.

A special event permit is required for temporary gatherings of more than 100 people that fit certain criteria, including moving demonstrations or events that would restrict access to public property, according to the city website.

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President Donald Trump announced the convention in late June. Republican officials said they expect more than 20,000 people to attend the convention during its two-day run beginning Sept. 9. Dallas police and federal partner agencies plan to block off streets surrounding the arena, temporarily close the Victory DART station, and enforce airspace restrictions. Reimbursements are still up in the air, City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert said at a Thursday press conference. DPD is expected to spend $1.8 million for security during the event.

What happened?

Xavi Velasquez, one of the activists organizing the protest, told the Observer that city officials said the permit had been canceled at DPD’s request. The police department is asking organizers to fill out a First Amendment Activity Request form. At a press conference last Friday, DPD Deputy Chief Devon Palk said that the request is not required, but helps police facilitate demonstrations.

“We’re not trying to prevent you, but that gives us that contact, and we can try to facilitate those events to make sure that people are able to traverse around the event,” Palk said.

In a statement, a DPD spokesperson said the department worked with the Office of Special Events, which is responsible for special-event permits, in making the decision to cancel the permit.

“We work closely with the Office of Special Events to determine the best course of action for those wanting to express their First Amendment rights; in this case, we (as in DPD and OSE) felt it was best for the organizers to not obtain a permit and work directly with DPD for a quicker process,” the statement reads.

The spokesperson added that applicants must pay the costs associated with special event permits, such as those for off-duty police officers. Instead, the department “felt this would be a better option to bypass the permit process and help the organizers directly,” the statement said.

While Velasquez said he placed some responsibility on city officials, he said they tried to connect his group with DPD and added that he is wary of meeting with the department because of prior issues. 

“They did try to get us in meetings with DPD, and constantly DPD didn’t show up,” Velasquez said. “DPD didn’t show up, and then whenever DPD reached out to us directly and set up a meeting, they canceled it right before the meeting. So, keeping that in mind, and with DPD running us off of City Hall property, we just have little faith in them respecting our rights.”

Past hurdles

Dallas police officers reportedly told DATA activists to vacate City Hall Plaza during a press conference earlier this month as they lacked the required permit, although the event drew less than 30 people. A city spokesperson recently told KERA that an event permit is required at the plaza when equipment is used to protect the property.

Velasquez also told the Observer that he felt the permitting process was moving at a “glacial” pace in August. A Dallas Police spokesperson recently told The Dallas Morning News that permits would be handled after the event’s security plan is finalized

“Now we’re supposed to start all over again with the Dallas Police Department,” Jo Hargis, an organizer with DATA, said. “It just feels like the city and Dallas police are obstructing a rally of people expressing their First Amendment rights, and that it’s a mishandling on their part of an expression that we’re entitled to.”

Rick Majumdar, another lead organizer with DATA, said the group will engage DPD, but if that process breaks down, “the city or the cops can’t say we didn’t try,” he wrote in a text. With just over a week left before the planned protest, the approval timeline remains unclear. DPD officials have previously directed questions on permit timelines to the Office of Special Events.

Hargis said the march will still take place, regardless of whether or not the city gives its blessing.

“As we’ve been saying from the beginning, we’re going to express our First Amendment rights, and we are going to be showing up to protest this convention and everything that Donald Trump and the Republican Party have stood for throughout this administration,” Hargis said.