Does Fort Worth’s ‘domestic terrorism’ advisory target minorities? Some say it will

Thursday, the city of Fort Worth published a notice on its website about reporting “unusual activity” that could be signs of domestic terrorism to the Fort Worth Police Department Homeland Security’s new hotline as part of “See Something, Say Something.”

“Domestic terrorism is more than a person with a gun,” the statement reads, in part. “Consider events such as the 1995 Oklahoma City Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing, envelopes containing anthrax mailed to politicians and the media in 2001, the 2017 Charlottesville, Va., white supremacist who drove his car into a crowd of protesters, or the 2018 Austin package bomber. In each instance, the perpetrator was a U.S. citizen.”

However, some Fort Worth residents are concerned about the timing of the notice and the message it sends to marginalized communities and communities of color.

“When considered in the broader context of the national dialogue, this is problematic,” said Mindia Whittier, a member of the grassroots coalition United Fort Worth. “Which demographic is consistently being generalized at both the national and state level as dangerous criminals? Who is being maligned and portrayed as meriting suspicion at an increasing and alarming rate?

“Who is the focus of all the dog whistles like ‘sanctuary city’ and ‘chain migration’ and ‘anchor babies’ and ‘catch and release’? The Latino community, that’s who,” Whittier said.

“Reporting ‘anything suspicious’ is deeply troubling not only because of the national and state context, but because of the Fort Worth context,” said Charles Hermes, a lecturer at the University of Texas at Arlington. “This is the city where [Jacqueline Craig] called the police because her neighbor was strangling her kid and [Craig] was arrested for calling the cops while black.

“When she told the cop that her white neighbor didn’t have the right to strangle her son, she was asked ‘why not?’ ”

Others said that while the message may be well-intentioned, there are other ways to reduce fears of domestic terrorism.

“Acknowledging that domestic terrorism is often carried out by angry white men is probably a step in the right direction, but then the direction of the notice is to report anything that seems out of the ordinary in your neighborhood,” said Matt Strom, a regional supervisor in affordable housing. “I live in a relatively diverse neighborhood and the reports of ‘out of the ordinary’ people or activity are almost always white folks reporting people of color for doing normal stuff.

“Instead of encouraging everyone to call the authorities about everything, I’d like to see the city encourage communication techniques to better understand seemingly unusual situations,” Strom continued.

Janice Thompson-Burgess, a communications officer for the city, said that while local law enforcement agencies do their best to keep residents safe, the community reporting can expand the safety net.

“Residents are their biggest resource,” the original notices says. “First responders need your eyes, ears and help in giving advance warning of potential acts of violence in neighborhoods and workplaces.”

“Why would a marginalized community want to participate with police when we have county policies like 287(g)? The city, county and state all work together,” Fort Worth resident Aracely Venegas Chavez said. “ If we are their biggest resource, then why are [they] supporting 287(g) and SB4?”

The DHS “See Something, Say Something” campaign started in July 2010 nationwide “to emphasize the importance of reporting suspicious activity to the proper state and local law enforcement authorities.” Thompson-Burgess said the city started sharing material about the program in February 2018 but the hotline was launched last month.

This story was originally published August 24, 2018 at 6:19 PM.