First tear gas, then kneeling: What Fort Worth must do next on police protests
Over the course of two nights, Fort Worth saw the range of possible outcomes in demonstrations against police violence.
On Sunday night, officers used tear gas to turn back protesters on the West Seventh Street bridge. Fifty people were arrested, three officers were hurt, and we were lucky it wasn’t worse.
On Monday, as the curfew declared by Mayor Betsy Price descended, a downtown crowd lingered and tensions mounted. One black officer, followed by his colleagues, knelt in solidarity with the protesters.
But then, after officers in riot gear approached the crowd, Police Chief Ed Kraus — who ordered the use of tear gas Sunday — and Assistant Chief Julie Swearingin also took a knee and prayed.
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It’s a remarkable moment in a year that’s been full of plenty already; read the Star-Telegram’s full account and watch our newsroom’s videos to understand how tense the situation was and how extraordinary the outcome.
Our city, all major American cities, remain on a knife’s edge. These confrontations could continue for much of the summer. And even if they stop, it will take only another outrage similar to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis to spark more demonstrations.
Cynics may suggest that Kraus merely did what he had to do to avoid another outburst. But he gets the benefit of the doubt, as he and other city leaders have kept Fort Worth from the destruction other cities have suffered.
The use of tear gas for the first time in roughly 30 years was a huge decision. Kraus said Monday that officers were assaulted with frozen water bottles and a firework and had heard demonstrators talk about vandalizing businesses. Activists dispute the extent to which those things happened. But it fell to Kraus to defuse the situation to prevent significant violence.
Even harder work remains: reforming police departments to prevent violence and other mistreatment of African Americans. We’ve outlined broad changes that are needed, including ways to encourage prosecution of rogue officers and make civil-rights lawsuits easier to win.
But Fort Worth has a road-map to other, specific changes — the Race and Culture Task Force recommendations that followed the violent arrest of resident Jacqueline Craig.
Among those were steps to diversify special police units, such as SWAT and special-response, which rapidly deploys to high-risk situations. Asked about that Monday, Kraus said the department has revamped promotion procedures so that commanders can consider diversity when filling vacancies. But jobs have to come open, so that process is slow.
What can’t be lost here is the need to effectively fight crime, especially in a city that’s seeing a resurgence in gang violence. City Council member Cary Moon noted a change that followed the police killing last year of Amari Malone, who detectives sought to question in a shooting. Witnesses wouldn’t talk to police, Moon said. So now, “it’s not police going to engage — community leaders, former gang members we have hired, go to encourage them to participate in questioning.”
Moon said, as others have, that the officers who stood by as officers Derek Chavuin kneeled on Floyd’s neck should have stepped in.
“They should have engaged the officer and helped Floyd,” he said. “When charges come against those other three officers, other officers are going to say, ‘I can’t let this happen.’ ”
These are the detailed changes that police everywhere must grapple with. It’s urgent work, and Fort Worth has a head start. All of us have a role to play in ensuring that the focus isn’t lost and that if changes aren’t made, elected leaders are held accountable.
This story was originally published June 2, 2020 at 5:24 PM.