Local Lions Club hosts gratitude dinner for Fort Worth officers assigned to protests
A local chapter of a service organization hosted an appreciation dinner Tuesday evening for law enforcement officers who policed demonstrations in Fort Worth earlier this summer.
The Northwest Tarrant Lions Club invited Fort Worth Police Department officers who patrol downtown on bicycles, those assigned to mounted patrol and deputy constables to dine for free with a guest at Angelo’s Barbecue.
“We want them to feel appreciated,” said Tim Matheus, a member of the club.
About 170 officers and guests attended the dinner, as did Fort Worth Councilman Dennis Shingleton, Matheus said. Some officers rode a mechanical bull outside the restaurant.
After the death in Minneapolis of George Floyd, in which officers were charged with crimes, demonstrators calling for police reform protested nightly in Fort Worth for about two weeks. They walked in streets in the Sundance Square area and other parts of downtown and in the West 7th Street area.
This story was originally published July 29, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
