Local advocacy groups to rally after Tarrant County jail deaths
A collection of Democratic advocacy groups will join together Tuesday morning to raise awareness and demand justice after four people died in 11 days in the custody of or shortly after being released from the Tarrant County Jail.
The 8 a.m. rally and march will begin on the north side of the Tarrant County Corrections Center with speakers from advocacy groups and politicians before marching to the Tarrant County Administration Building, 100 E. Weatherford St., where the Commissioners Court meeting will take place.
The four deceased are Victor Runnels, 61, Mack Greer, 49, James Kent Johnson, 40, and Carl Avery McCray, 40. All happened in the five weeks since the commissioners last met on June 9.
Organizers of the rally distinguished that the rally will be peaceful. The rally will be on Bastille Day, which recognizes the storming of the French political prison, the Bastille, and the start of the French Revolution.
“Bastille Day commemorates the storming of a prison that had become a symbol of unchecked government power and injustice,” the rally press release said. “We gather at the Tarrant County Jail for the same reason: to stand against a system where too many people, especially those accused of low level offenses, are unable to afford bail and remain behind bars while lives are lost waiting for justice.”