A Fort Worth man has been arrested after speaking out at a heated Tarrant County Commissioners Court meeting Aug. 4.
Court records show EJ Carrion, host of 817 Podcast, was arrested early Wednesday morning and charged with 鈥� a class B misdemeanor.
Community member Alexander Montalvo told 四虎影院 in a phone call he and Carrion were out with other community members Tuesday night before everyone headed home around 2 a.m. Wednesday.
Montalvo and Carrion were talking on the phone when Carrion told him he was being pulled over by Fort Worth Police.
A few minutes later, Montalvo said Carrion called him again and told him he had a warrant out for his arrest from Tarrant County for disrupting a public meeting and was being taken into custody.
Montalvo said a Fort Worth officer confirmed with him that Carrion was pulled over for an alleged traffic violation and discovered he had a warrant issued Monday. The only meeting that occurred before then was commissioners court.
"I think we have seen a much more hostile treatment towards citizens and residents showing up at public government meetings," Montalvo told 四虎影院. "That hostility definitely has been the strongest within the Tarrant County Commissioners Court."
Carrion is a frequent attendee and speaker at commissioners court meetings. He was among multiple people that were told to be removed from the chambers by County Judge Tim O' Hare during public comments of last Tuesday's meeting.
Carrion had used a profane word twice during his allotted time to speak. He then called O'Hare a small man as he left the room before O'Hare told him he was disrupting the meeting.
Profane, obscene, or slanderous remarks are among several things prohibited during these meetings, according to the
County Commissioner Roderick Miles, Jr. said in a statement Wednesday he was "deeply disturbed" over Carrion's arrest and the circumstances surrounding it.
Miles also said residents should never have to wonder whether speaking forcefully to their elected officials could result in a warrant, an arrest, or an encounter with law enforcement.
"When a man of color is pulled over in the early morning hours and taken into custody on a warrant connected to what occurred while he was speaking at a public government meeting, we cannot look at that moment in isolation," Miles said. "We have to consider how that experience affects him, what his family sees, what his community hears, and what message it sends to every resident who may one day stand before their government and speak with passion, frustration, or disagreement."
Miles' statement called on his colleagues to help make commissioners court feel safe enough for residents to come before county leaders and express their thoughts and concerns.
"The authority entrusted to us does not belong to us," Miles said. "It belongs to the people. It should never be exercised in a way that causes residents to fear retaliation for questioning, criticizing, or challenging their government."
Dozens of residents last Tuesday spoke out against a proposal that would have in November.
The public comment portion ended with O鈥橦are instructing everyone to leave the room and arresting former state lawmaker Lon Burham.
Burnam faces one charge of hindering proceedings by disorderly conduct and one charge disrupting a meeting or procession, court records show.
"What occurred at last Tuesday鈥檚 Commissioners Court meeting and the decision to now pursue criminal charges raises serious concerns about the line between maintaining order in a public meeting and criminalizing protected dissent," Burnam's attorney Tiffany Burks said in a statement.
Commissioners Alisa Simmons in a statement called Carrion and Burnam's arrests an alarming pattern.
"Government officials do not get to decide that constitutional rights apply only to people who speak respectfully about us," Simmons said. "We took an oath to uphold the Constitution, including when the speech directed at us is harsh, angry or deeply critical."
Critics accused O'Hare and Republican commissioners Manny Ramirez and Matt Krause of coordinating this effort to make it harder for people to vote in this year's midterms.
O'Hare said during the meeting he was not okay with the cuts to voting locations and Ramirez released a statement last Friday proposing the county keep all the same voting locations used during the 2022 midterms. The vote on this has been delayed until next month.
Carrion was still in custody at Tarrant County Jail as of Wednesday afternoon and has a bond set at $600.
This story has been updated with a statement from Tarrant County Commissioners Roderick Miles, Jr. and Alisa Simmons and an attorney for Lon Burnam.
Penelope Rivera is 四虎影院's Tarrant County Accountability Reporter. Got a tip? Email Penelope Rivera at privera@kera.org.
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