Most protesters arrested in Fort Worth march live in North Texas, records show
Most of the protesters arrested over the weekend on the West 7th Street bridge in Fort Worth live in North Texas, though many came from other parts of Tarrant and surrounding counties, according to Tarrant County Jail records.
Only a couple live a long distance away, according to the records.
The jail records indicated 42 protesters were arrested, but Fort Worth police have said the total number was 50.
Protesters began being booked into the Fort Worth Jail late Sunday and continued into Monday morning before being transferred to the county jail.
Fort Worth police used tear gas to disperse a crowd of protesters Sunday night after an hours-long peaceful standoff on the West 7th Street bridge.
At a Monday afternoon news conference, Police Chief Ed Kraus said protesters began to throw bottles of bleach and frozen water bottles at officers blocking the bridge at about 10 p.m. Sunday. A firework was also detonated about that time. Tear gas was deployed about 30 minutes later, Kraus said.
The protest was peaceful for hours, beginning around 5 p.m. in downtown Fort Worth. The march began around 6:30 p.m. It marked the third day of protests in the city against police brutality and the killings of black people by police, sparked by the death of George Floyd, who died in the custody of Minneapolis police on May 25.
Of the 50 people arrested in Fort Worth, 25 did not live in the city and likely traveled to Fort Worth after Dallas and Denton enacted curfews, Kraus said.
One protester listed his address as Dallas, according to jail records.
The Tarrant County jail log also had another protester listed from Fort Bend County, which is near Houston and 280 miles away.
One protester was from Winnsboro, which is about 130 miles from Fort Worth in northeast Texas.
The hometowns of other protesters included Lakeside, Azle, Aledo, North Richland Hills, Bedford, Lewisville, Bridgeport, Mansfield, Grand Prairie, Arlington, Watauga, Irving, Forest Hill, Hurst and Paradise.
The protesters face charges of riot participation, according to jail records.
The jail log also noted two protesters were jailed for warrants accusing them of driving while intoxicated.
This story was originally published June 2, 2020 at 5:28 PM.
