Protesters implore Fort Worth City Council to make changes within police department
Seven days of tension between protesters and police and politicians on the streets of Fort Worth came to City Hall on Thursday afternoon when dozens of speakers implored the City Council for significant changes — and suggested Mayor Betsy Price and council members have been out of touch.
“For y’all behind them desks or on this TV,” said Keevion Candler, “if you ain’t here for the people of Fort Worth, what are you here for?”
The speakers were black and white and varied greatly in age. Some had been protesting for several days. Many were making their first appearances at City Council. That was the case for Grant Shipp, a white man who said he was there to speak out against the ambivalence of white people and called for the casually racist “locker room talk” between middle-aged white men to end.
Nysse Nelson, who is black and has attended many of the protests, addressed City Council and said, “It hurts me to look up at this Council and not see one person that looks like me.” (Kelly Allen Gray and Gyna Bivens, two black council members, attended the meeting remotely).
The protesters asked for greater civilian oversight of police and to decrease its funding for military-grade weapons and tear gas. They described being tired of statements and photo-ops and wanted to see concrete action.
Although many requests for change dealt with long-term issues, several speakers asked the City Council to take action Thursday. The council had the opportunity to authorize a meet and confer agreement with the Fort Worth Police Officers’ Association, the union that represents the Fort Worth Police. Part of the agreement allows for seniority to influence officers’ schedules, which opponents say often leads to less experienced officers being paired on night shifts. It was during a night shift last year when officer Aaron Dean killed Atatiana Jefferson during a routine welfare check. The speakers wanted the council to postpone and revise the agreement. “This is your opportunity to show us that this isn’t just lip service,” resident Jason Adams said.
After the statements against the agreement, Councilwoman Ann Zadeh motioned to postpone it until August and to have meetings for the public to attend (several meetings had earlier taken place regarding the agreement). Bivens said, “I think we all know what we need to do.” The motion to continue the decision until August passed, and the agreement was not authorized.
Before the meeting, Price met with protesters and addressed them again at the start of the session.
“Act justly, love mercy and walk humbly. I quoted that scripture seven months ago when Atatiana Jefferson was killed. And I will say it again as we all mourn George Floyd and the injustices we see,” Price said. “It’s a collective outcry about one incident, not really about one incident but about many. It’s a moment that’s been building for some time.
“I want to tell you all who are here today and everyone that’s protesting we see you and we hear you and we are listening and changes are being done.”
She described some of the city’s attempts in recent years to correct injustice and racism — including hiring a police monitor, hiring a diversity and inclusion director and having City Council and police go through diversity training. But she added, “Most of the hard work remains. And it’s also the most meaningful work.”
The protesters want to see changes quickly and made clear what they intended to do if they didn’t see any. As they marched around City Hall before the meeting, an organizer shouted through a megaphone that it was time for a new city council and new mayor.
This story was originally published June 4, 2020 at 6:24 PM.
