Fort Worth march ends peacefully after curfew when police kneel, pray with protesters
The night before, a Fort Worth protest ended with anger, tear gas, smoke and flash bombs. But on this night, the protest would end peacefully.
It all began when one black officer stepped from a police line to kneel. Then other officers knelt, as well.
Protesters rushed forward, cheering, and embraced the officers near the Tarrant County Courthouse in downtown Fort Worth. Many shook hands, introduced themselves and hugged. One man shook every officers’ hand and thanked them.
That emotional moment unintentionally escalated matters again, however, when the Fort Worth Police Department’s Special Response Team misinterpreted the protesters’ actions as aggressive. But a half hour later, after a combination of talk, prayer and more kneeling, the police and the crowd dispersed.
“You just showed the nation how to do it,” Police Chief Ed Kraus shouted as people left.
The scene took shape Monday evening, the fourth night of protests in Fort Worth over police brutality against people of color.
A church bell rang at 8 p.m., marking the start of a citywide curfew enacted after a standoff on the West Seventh Street bridge Sunday night ended with tear gas.
Hundreds remained in front of the courthouse despite the curfew. Leaders of the march left slightly before 8 p.m. and warned others to do the same.
“If you want to go home, go home. But remember Atatiana Jefferson was shot in her home,” one protester said into a megaphone, referring to the death of a black Fort Worth resident shot in her home by a white police officer, who later resigned and is charged with murder.
A few minutes past the 8 p.m. curfew, officers on bikes were stationed at a building across the street from protesters, but there had been no movement by police to arrest anyone.
At 8:30 — 30 minutes past curfew — police cars began to pull up, and the officers on bikes formed a line on Weatherford Street. Many protesters ran but then came back. Hundreds formed a line directly across from the police, linked arms and chanted, “When you don’t give a damn, we don’t give a damn.”
Police announced over a speaker that protesters were violating the curfew.
Protesters started to kneel together on the street. They took up the cry, “Just take a knee.”
One black officer walked into the center of the road between the protesters and the police and dropped to his knee. Behind him, every officer did the same, prompting the rush of appreciative protesters.
But moments later, officers in riot gear appeared on Main Street and lined up to face the protesters. Confusion erupted and some protesters yelled that the kneeling had been a trick. Someone threw a firework toward officers in riot gear and water bottles flew through the air, hitting some officers on their helmets.
For 30 minutes, protesters and police faced each other in front of the courthouse. Some shouted at police. Others lay down on the ground or knelt. Others walked up and down and talked to officers. The officers on bikes put themselves between protesters and the officers in riot gear. The officer who was the first to kneel picked up a bundle of flowers from the street and placed them in his bag.
Chief Kraus and Assistant Chief Julie Swearingin suddenly walked into the intersection and knelt in front of the courthouse steps at 9:20 p.m. They started to pray with protesters.
“We’re asking for your protection for all these people here, Lord,” Swearingin said. “We are all your children, Lord, and we ask for understanding and peace, Lord.”
As she prayed, one protester yelled, “shut it down!” But fellow protesters told her to stop.
When the prayer finished, police in riot gear also knelt on the ground.
Kraus talked with a protester, who told him if SWAT officers left, protesters would too.
“In talking with some of the organizers, they made it clear they were going to stay here until we left,” Kraus told the Star-Telegram. “And I said, ‘I don’t have any problem pulling back the Special Response Team and SWAT. And they said, ‘If you do that, we’ll leave.’”
A young black man who had prayed and talked with Kraus shouted to the crowd; “When SWAT leaves, we leave!”
Meanwhile, Kraus spoke with officers in riot gear, who were part of SWAT and the department’s Special Response Team. At 9:30 p.m., those officers left down Main Street. Protesters cheered and clapped.
“Keep your word!” the same man shouted to the crowd.
Protesters, still cheering, turned and walked down Weatherford Street.
“You just showed the nation how to do it,” Kraus shouted to them.
Within minutes, the area was cleared of police and protesters, except for Kraus and a few people who stayed behind to clean up. No one had been arrested.
Kraus said the Special Response Team was lined up on Main Street when it saw protesters rush to embrace officers. They misinterpreted the movement as “hostile.” The bike officers told the team everything was fine, but the standoff had already started.
When Kraus realized what happened and saw the standoff, he and Swearingin decided to leave the command center and talk with protesters directly.
“They’re very passionate, they’re hurting. And they wanted to let us know what they wanted, which is change. Change with the police and community relations,” Kraus said. “So we listened to what they wanted to say.”
Kraus said police need to take the first step to make positive relationships with the community, and many people are intimidated by officers.
“I think it’s a good step,” Kraus said. “I hope it was meaningful. I hope that the people here saw our hearts. We certainly saw their hearts and that they were hurting. And hopefully that will help us build a better community together.”
Curfew
On Monday, Fort Worth officials announced a citywide curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. through Thursday morning.
At 7 p.m., protest leaders encouraged everyone to go home and said they didn’t want anyone to break the curfew. But many in the crowd weren’t ready to leave.
Carol Harrison-Lafayette and fellow organizers Robert Johnson and Donnell Ballard said they don’t support people breaking the law during protest.
“We did not come out here to display madness. We came out here to display love, unity and justice,” Johnson said on the steps of the courthouse. The crowd of hundreds chanted “no justice, no peace” behind him.
“It is time to show these young people that you don’t have to go to jail for justice,” Johnson said.
When Monday’s protest started about 5:45 p.m., one marcher, Triston Holley of Fort Worth, said he came to “fight against a system that’s been against us from the beginning.”
Zakiah Williams said, “I’m out here protesting for the injustices my people face every day. ... If they listen to what we’re saying, then maybe something will change.”
This story was originally published June 1, 2020 at 7:00 PM.
