Tarrant labor leader obstructed highway during Dallas march, police say
A Tarrant County labor leader was arrested on Sunday during a political march in downtown Dallas focused on matters related to work.
In speeches before the march, organizers of the May Day-linked rally called for the crowd to collectively rebuff Trump administration policy that they said harms working class people.
Dallas AFL-CIO President Gene Lantz on Sunday evening distributed to members an advisory that reported that two of the protest’s organizers were in custody at a jail in Dallas County.
Tarrant County AFL-CIO executive secretary Angi DeFelippo was arrested, Lantz wrote. DeFelippo was booked on suspicion of obstructing a highway, according to WFAA-TV.
DeFelippo told WFAA that officers pulled her over and arrested her as she was leaving the demonstration.
“I think it was a big overstep for the police department in general. ... It could have just not happened at all,” DeFelippo told WFAA. “Our protest was peaceful, we didn’t trash anything, we weren’t rude, we weren’t crude.”
Teamster Rick Majumdar was also arrested, The Dallas Morning News reported, attributing its account to Mark Napieralski, a Local 767 teamster.
DeFelippo and Majumdar were released from jail about 1:45 a.m. Monday, The Dallas Morning News reported.
