Fort Worth resident EJ Carrion was booked into the county jail early Wednesday morning. He is charged with disrupting a meeting, a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $2,000, up to 180 days in jail, or both the fine and jail time. Under Texas penal code, it is a crime to disrupt a lawful meeting, procession or gathering through physical actions, verbal utterances or electronic disturbances.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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EJ Carrion was charged with disrupting a public meeting. (Courtesy | Tarrant County Sheriff\u2019s Office)<\/p>\n
Alexander Montalvo, Carrion\u2019s friend and fellow local activist, said he believes the arrest was to retaliate against Carrion and intimidate others who speak at commissioners court meetings.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s this view that being an elected official in Tarrant County, and really in Texas, means that you are entitled to enforce your will,\u201d Montalvo told the Fort Worth Report. \u201cAnd any time people voice a challenge, they perceive themselves as being able to suppress and eliminate those challenges in whatever form and fashion they can.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carrion was arrested shortly after leaving a Fort Worth City Council meeting that stretched past midnight as the council adopted several changes around data center development<\/a>. At nearly the end of that meeting, sheriff deputies escorted Carrion out of the council chambers after he repeatedly yelled from the audience.\u00a0<\/p>\n At last week\u2019s commissioners court meeting, Carrion joined dozens of other residents in criticizing a proposed reduction<\/a> in voting sites for the November midterm elections. Commissioners voted to delay their approval of the sites until September after speakers, including Carrion, described the proposed list as an attempt at limiting voter access to the polls.\u00a0<\/p>\n During Carrion\u2019s allotted time to speak, County Judge Tim O\u2019Hare ordered sheriff deputies to remove him from the courtroom after Carrion directed an expletive at the Republican commissioners. Carrion left voluntarily, shepherded by deputies.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m walking out, you small man,\u201d Carrion shouted at O\u2019Hare as he exited the room.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou are disrupting the meeting. We are now in recess,\u201d O\u2019Hare told Carrion before calling a meeting break.\u00a0<\/p>\n Leah Nesbitt, O\u2019Hare\u2019s spokesperson, did not return a request for comment on Carrion\u2019s arrest. Robbie Hoy, a spokesperson for the sheriff\u2019s office, said via email that he was working on gathering information about the arrest.\u00a0<\/p>\n Carrion, 36, hosts the weekly 817 Podcast, which discusses Tarrant County news and politics from a progressive lens. He reflected on his removal in an Aug. 10 episode.<\/p>\n \u201cI, being EJ, was just loud and crazy, went in and got them to break for session,\u201d Carrion said, explaining that he hadn\u2019t planned what he said to commissioners Tuesday. \u201cWhat I did know is the first couple comments before me were just not the tone we needed to be at. So I knew that we needed to bring another level of boom.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Carrion has become a familiar face at local government meetings over the last year, regularly signing up to speak at Tarrant County Commissioners Court, Fort Worth City Council and Fort Worth ISD, advocating for issues such as government transparency and community input in decision-making. On his podcast, Carrion often encourages listeners to be civically engaged and speak at public meetings to address their elected officials.\u00a0<\/p>\n In February, Carrion was removed<\/a> from the commissioners’ courtroom after criticizing O\u2019Hare during a meeting recess. At the time, free speech experts told the Report that Carrion\u2019s remarks were protected free speech, as the meeting was not in session when he made them.\u00a0<\/p>\n In December, Carrion and Montalvo were escorted<\/a> out of a Fort Worth City Council meeting after Carrion shouted from the audience during another speaker\u2019s remarks. The pair had attended the meeting to criticize changes that reduced the amount of time for the public to speak.\u00a0<\/p>\n During the commissioners court meeting last week, O\u2019Hare had sheriff\u2019s deputies remove<\/a> all attendees from the courtroom when some of them laughed or clapped from the audience.\u00a0<\/p>\n Former state legislator Lon Burnam was also arrested<\/a> and charged with disrupting the meeting. Four sheriff deputies carried him out of the room by his hands and feet after he lay down on the floor when they told him to leave the meeting.\u00a0<\/p>\n Burnam spent several hours in the county jail but was released<\/a> the same day, on a personal recognizance bond, which allows arrestees to be released without paying a bond after signing a sworn agreement that they will appear at all court dates and follow release conditions.<\/p>\n Cecilia Lenzen is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at cecilia.lenzen@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n