Two attendees were removed from the Fort Worth City Council chambers Tuesday night after yelling during a meeting and questioning city marshals.
EJ Carrion and Alexander Montalvo are familiar faces at City Hall, often attending public comment meetings to advocate for issues and critique city leadership.
City marshals instructed Carrion to exit the chambers after he shouted from the audience, 鈥淵our time鈥檚 up. They took your time,鈥� when a speaker鈥檚 allotted time to address the council ran out. The comment referenced the shortened time residents were given to speak that night.
Montalvo, who was nearby, questioned the marshals as Carrion complied with their order to exit.
鈥淚 simply asked the question, 鈥榃hy is he having to leave?鈥� And the response was, 鈥楧o you want to be next?鈥欌�� Montalvo said, recounting the incident to the Fort Worth Report after the meeting.
At that point, a marshal told Montalvo, 鈥淚t鈥檚 time to go鈥� because he was disrupting another speaker鈥檚 comments, according to video footage of the interaction reviewed by the Fort Worth Report.
Journalists from the Report at the meeting observed Montalvo refusing to leave until marshals began physically pushing his shoulder to nudge him out of the seat, at which point he walked with them to the foyer outside the council chambers. While in the foyer, the reporters saw marshals appear to push Montalvo against the wall as he tried to reenter the chambers.
Marshals eventually allowed Montalvo to reenter and take his turn to address the council, saying it was up to Mayor Mattie Parker whether he鈥檇 be allowed back in. The mayor鈥檚 spokesperson, Kinsey Clemmer, confirmed that Parker gave the green light for Montalvo to return to the chambers but did not comment further.
Carrion was not allowed to reenter the meeting.
Marshals at the meeting declined to comment. Fort Worth Police spokesperson Buddy Calzada said via email the department had no information on the incident.
Carrion and Montalvo said the night鈥檚 events would not prevent them from attending future meetings but could impact how they feel about being at City Hall.
鈥淚 will not be bullied by these thugs in uniform, but do I feel safe? No,鈥� Montalvo said. He said he wants a public apology from the Fort Worth Police Department and the marshals involved.
The incident came toward the end of an already tense meeting marked by residents鈥� frustrations over recent meeting changes that some community activists have described as an .
City officials moved the Dec. 2 meeting鈥檚 start time up an hour from the usual 6 p.m. to allow council members to attend the annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Sundance Square, scheduled for 6:30 p.m., according to a Dec. 1 news release.
Attendees were given 90 seconds to address the council instead of the usual three minutes allotted per speaker. Tuesday鈥檚 speakers addressed a variety of topics including , a and maternal health in Tarrant County.
Several criticized the night鈥檚 changes made in accommodation of the Christmas tree lighting, saying the council should have prioritized hearing from residents as it was the last public comment meeting of the year.
City spokesperson Sana Syed declined to comment on the criticism about the night鈥檚 meeting, deferring to the mayor and council members.
Public comment meetings allow residents to speak directly to the council in a public forum on any topic. The council鈥檚 reduces the number of such meetings from the 15 offered this year to 10 next year.
Carrion noted that his and Montalvo鈥檚 removal from the meeting came amid their ongoing criticism of that reduced schedule.
鈥淭he fact that this was the last one, and you treated the community鈥檚 voices as a sidepiece to the Sundance Square tree lights 鈥� I just think there鈥檚 a lot of angst,鈥� Carrion told the Fort Worth Report.
Montalvo was the last of about 50 speakers. Addressing the council after his interaction with marshals, he told members he was 鈥渂ullied by law enforcement鈥� and criticized Parker for 鈥渢his crusade against public comments.鈥�
Cecilia Lenzen is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at cecilia.lenzen@fortworthreport.org.
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