Fort Worth protesters face off with police Thursday after alleged attack by restaurant patron
A demonstration by protest group Black Love turned tense Thursday night after protesters say a patron at a downtown Fort Worth business threw water in the face of one protester.
Demonstrators said they entered the restaurant Texas de Brazil, across the street from the Tarrant County Courthouse, to disrupt business, carrying signs and chanting things like “Black lives matter” and “No justice, no peace.”
The demonstrators demanded police arrest the person they say assaulted the protester by throwing water in her face and refused to leave the area when that didn’t happen.
A police spokesman told the Star-Telegram they couldn’t provide more information on the incident without a report number.
Police on bikes rallied around the restaurant, keeping an eye on protesters but, for the most part, keeping their distance. In two instances they set up a line of officers and their bicycles, once in the street and once in front of the door to the restaurant after demonstrators tried to get back inside.
Demonstrators told police they wanted the person arrested, to which officers replied they had filed a report.
At one point, police threatened to arrest demonstrators who continued to block the sidewalk in front of the restaurant’s entrance.
About 20 minutes after police set up their line in front of the restaurant, demonstrators began moving throughout downtown. At each restaurant along the seemingly unplanned route, officers blocked the entrance.
That didn’t stop the demonstrators from stopping outside the restaurants to chant and yell at patrons.
In a couple of instances, demonstrators and patrons of those establishments engaged in shouting matches. One woman who yelled “All lives matter” at the protesters was escorted back into a restaurant by police as tensions grew.
Roy Montelongo, an organizer with Black Love, said his group will continue to disrupt businesses in downtown Fort Worth. The goal, he said, is to hurt the sales tax flowing from these businesses to state and local government as well as raise awareness for their cause.
Montelongo said Wednesday night that the group would return to West 7th Street and Montgomery Plaza to enter and disrupt local businesses. They never began their march to that area Thursday.
One speaker who was not available to give his name after speaking said Fort Worth doesn’t care as much about Montgomery Plaza and West 7th businesses as those in downtown. He suggested demonstrators should build on Thursday’s unplanned events and stay in downtown.
— Staff writer Kaley Johnson contributed to this report.
This story was originally published June 11, 2020 at 10:50 PM.