White Settlement mom jailed after ‘turning herself in’ for allegedly stealing protest sign
_fitted.png "Casey Harmon repainted one of Evans’s signs and staged a counter-protest.")
A Tannahill Intermediate School mother spent the night in a Fort Worth jail after being arrested Thursday morning for allegedly stealing a sign from a White Settlement man protesting the local school district, police say.
Casey Harmon’s mother, Debbie, told the Star-Telegram Thursday night that her daughter was waiting to be booked and that she will be arraigned Friday morning.
Harmon and several parents have raised concerns about their student’s safety since Scott Evans began his battle with the school district nearly two years ago.
The parents’ beef? Evans’ signs and his presence outside the schools.
Evans said he is protesting the school district for allegedly violating his freedom of speech after he publicly protested against a school district employee in 2021.
Evans said he went to the police to press charges on Harmon, saying that actions have consequences.
The alleged stolen sign was valued over $100 but less than $750 by Evans, which would be a class B misdemeanor for property theft under Texas Penal Code. The sign cost Evans over $100 because he had it produced commercially, he said.
He said he isn’t so much looking for Harmon to hand over the sign, but for her to pay restitution for the $183 it cost him to replace the sign. Additionally, Evans said he doesn’t want Harmon to “sit in jail,” but to pay a fine and be on probation.
“Maybe it’ll teach her a lesson, since you can’t just go and steal people’s property,” Evans said.
Harmon knew something was going on when she saw Evans speaking with police officers Wednesday afternoon at the school. After Harmon dropped off her daughter Thursday morning, she walked up to a police officer.
“Hey, I’m about to get arrested,” read a text Harmon sent to a group of parents at Tannahill that included Carmen DeLeon, after Harmon spoke to the officer.
“Basically to put it in the right word, she turned herself in,” DeLeon told the Star-Telegram.
In early April, Harmon took one of Evans’ signs and spray painted it black with the words “Ignore Haters, Stay Kind” in white. Harmon later staged a lone counter protest holding out thesign she had repainted.
“I’m sure it’s having an effect on the kids, and that’s my beef with it — is just how it’s negatively affecting their mentality and their self-esteem,” Harmon told the Star-Telegram at the time.
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Evans’ signs have ranged from political messaging against bonds to one of his latest signs which reads “White Settlement ISD Hates Freedom of Speech” with images of women in small bikinis at the beach and men in swim briefs kissing.
“From all the things they’ve done to me, violating my freedom of speech, obviously they don’t like it,” he said. “And I’m going to let the world know they don’t like it.”
The group of Tannahill Intermediate parents, while waiting for any news on Harmon, are working on getting a GoFundMe account set up to help with her legal fees.
