Fort Worth police say ‘no evidence’ to support pastor’s claim about racial slur
A local pastor says a Fort Worth police officer used a racial slur toward him in an encounter outside his church, and the pastor is pointing the incident out as an example of what he says is a wider problem in the department.
Pastor Kyev Tatum of New Mount Rose Missionary Baptist Church at 2864 Mississippi Ave. said a police officer used a slur toward him when he asked why police vehicles were parked at his church last week.
“We try to find somebody to help or something to feel good about, and so we don’t expect the police officers to treat us inhumane and demean us, demoralize us and devalue us simply because we’re inquiring, ‘Why are you on our church parking lot?’” Tatum told the Star-Telegram.
The Fort Worth Police Department told the Star-Telegram earlier this week that no complaint had been filed about the incident, so it had nothing to investigate. The department has not responded to a follow-up request from the Star-Telegram, after Tatum said he had filed a formal complaint.
“We can also share that our department has not received a official complaint on the incident you are referring to,” according to an email the department sent to Tatum that was posted on his Facebook page. “FWISD officers were present in the area serving a warrant. The call for service on the warrant has been looked internally and there is no evidence that supports the claim made at this time.”
The Star-Telegram has filed a public records request with police for body- and dash-camera video from the incident, but has not received a response.
In response to the incident, Tatum held a town hall at his church on Thursday, Oct. 30. He invited the Fort Worth Police Department and the Fort Worth City Council to address the matter. No representatives from the police department or city attended.
The announcement for the meeting called it “A Community Response to the Devaluing, Demoralizing, and Demeaning Treatment by the Fort Worth Police Department Gang Unit in Morningside 76104.”
The announcement included a quote from Tatum: “We need a police force built on a love for people — all people — not just those who look, think, or live like them. How can you truly protect and serve a community if you don’t love the very people you’re called to serve? It simply doesn’t make sense.”
The meeting was attended by about 20 community members. During the meeting, Tatum related the incident to the crowd and answered questions about the confrontation. Attendees brainstormed ways to draw more attention to the incident and to problems with the relationship between police and residents in the neighborhood.
Confrontation outside a Fort Worth Baptist church
Tatum said the incident occurred Oct. 22 when Tatum was traveling to his church for a Bible study. It was around 6:30 p.m. He arrived and saw several Fort Worth Police Department vehicles parked along Lowden Street and on his church’s property.
Tatum said he approached the officers to ask about the situation and to understand why police cars were on his church’s private property. He said an officer became irritated and dismissed Tatum’s questions and his request for his name and badge number. Tatum said that after he parked his car in the church’s parking lot another police officer approached him saying the other officer could have used more common decency in talking with Tatum.
Tatum said he asked the second officer who approached him to get the first officer to come forward to speak with Tatum in an attempt to deescalate the situation.
When the officer went over to talk with the first police officer Tatum said he couldn’t decipher what the first officer said but interpreted it was condescending. Tatum said witnesses who were close by said the first police officer said, “I’m not going to talk to that [racial slur], he’s an idiot.”
Tatum declined to identify to the Star-Telegram those who heard the comment, saying he was concerned about possible retribution toward them.
After the confrontation, Tatum shared his feelings on the situation on a livestream on his Facebook page.
He created his own complaint, which he circulated online, and said he later sent an official complaint to the Office of the Police Oversight Monitor.
