A June 27 incident outside Trinity Pride Fest in Fort Worth has drawn scrutiny from federal officials and the local police union over how officers handled street preachers using bullhorns. The case has prompted First Amendment training, a potential Justice Department probe and calls for body camera footage to be released.
Here are key takeaways:
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Fort Worth police cited a person for disorderly conduct on June 27, 2026, after street preachers spoke into bullhorns near Trinity Pride Fest in the Near Southside, with officers telling the Star-Telegram the citation was based on noise from a bullhorn, not the content of the speech.
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The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced on July 14 that it sent a letter to the Fort Worth City Attorney requesting records on the police department’s First Amendment policy, training materials and accountability records, to help decide whether to take further formal action.
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Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, posted about the incident on X on July 10, writing “Troubling” and saying her team was “on it”.
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The Fort Worth Police Officers Association issued a statement late Thursday saying it “unequivocally stands” behind the officers, arguing they were placed in an “untenable enforcement situation” without current training or clear policy, and calling for body camera footage to be released.
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Attorney C.J. Grisham, who is representing cited street preacher David Grisham in a potential lawsuit, said he finds it “incredibly offensive to unequivocally stand behind the actions of those police officers.”
The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The source reporting referenced above was written and edited entirely by journalists.