\u201cThis will stand the test of time and be there for many, many years to come,\u201d O\u2019Hare said, speaking of the monument.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260116_Divera-Ten-Commandments-8--1024x683.jpg\")
Tarrant County Judge Tim O\u2019Hare stands in front of a monument displaying a version of the Ten Commandments during a dedication ceremony outside the Tarrant County Courthouse on Jan. 16, 2026. (Christine Vo | Fort Worth Report) <\/p>\n
Joining O\u2019Hare and Krause on stage was Commissioner Manny Ramirez, First Liberty Institute President and CEO Kelly Shackelford and Tim Barton, president of a Christian nonprofit called WallBuilders. His father, David Barton, often speaks at statehouses and pulpits, arguing that separation between church and state is a myth<\/a> and that America should be run as a Christian nation.\u00a0<\/p>\n Texas Rep. Nate Schatzline offered the invocation for the ceremony. The lawmaker and Mercy Culture Church pastor announced in October he would be joining<\/a> President Donald Trump\u2019s National Faith Advisory Board at the end of his term.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t just make room for you, God, we give you Tarrant County. Father, we rededicate this land, this county. Tarrant County is the Lord\u2019s,\u201d Schatzline said in prayer.<\/p>\n The monument, which was approved in a 3-2 vote by commissioners last April,<\/a> has received support and backlash from residents.<\/p>\n Similar monuments have been established in Austin and Amarillo<\/a> as well as other states, including Oklahoma, Arkansas and Kentucky.<\/p>\n The proposal for a Ten Commandments monument on the Texas Capitol grounds raised legal questions in the past regarding whether it should be allowed on government property. The Supreme Court ruled in 2005 the installation at the Capitol did not violate the Establishment Clause<\/a> in the First Amendment, which prohibits the government <\/a>from \u201cestablishing\u201d a religion.<\/p>\n The Tarrant County monument was privately donated by the American History & Heritage Foundation,<\/a> a nonprofit founded in 2015 dedicated to \u201ceducating and informing the public about American history and heritage.\u201d<\/p>\n Future maintenance of the Tarrant County monument also will be privately funded, Krause said during the ceremony.\u00a0<\/p>\n The group has also donated funds to provide Ten Commandments posters in buildings and public school classrooms across states such as Texas, Arkansas, Alabama, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana and West Virginia, according to its website.<\/p>\n Tarrant County residents celebrate, protest new monument<\/strong><\/p>\n Lori Segal, 61, said she\u2019s proud to have witnessed Friday\u2019s unveiling.<\/p>\n Segal\u2019s family moved from California to Texas in 2021. Her husband and daughter joined her at the event as a family outing.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, it\u2019s a foundation that we were founded on in this country, and that\u2019s the law, and it\u2019s the character and the morals that all of us should have,\u201d Segal said.<\/p>\n Marklin Jones, 69, said that as a Christian with a charismatic and Pentecostal background, the monument serves as a reminder of what Tarrant County stands for.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m very proud that Tarrant County is willing to put this in front of the south lawn of the courthouse on Main Street and to remind people, it\u2019s there to educate you.\u201d<\/p>\n Others have argued the monument favors Christianity over other religions.<\/p>\n Nearby, protesters held signs reading \u201cthese people honor me with their lips but not their actions\u201d and \u201ccourts should protect rights, not promote religion.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The demonstration included members of the Faith & Justice Coalition of Tarrant County, a group of clergy-based leaders from various Christian and Jewish backgrounds. The group is co-led by Rev. Dr. Michael Bell of Greater St. Stephen First Church and Rev. Ryon Price of Broadway Baptist Church.\u00a0<\/p>\n The display of a Ten Commandments monument \u201celevates a sacred text associated with a particular religious tradition \u2014 namely Christianity \u2014 above others,\u201d the group wrote in a statement<\/a> ahead of the ceremony. The coalition argued the Ten Commandments monument \u201csends an exclusionary message\u201d to people of non-Christian beliefs.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis signifies that we\u2019re in deeper trouble than we thought when people are deliberately, intentionally excluded,\u201d Bell said.<\/p>\n Sheri Allen, a Fort Worth Jewish resident and co-founder of Makom Shelanu, participated in the protest nearly two hours before she was to observe Shabbat \u2014 the Jewish Sabbath.\u00a0<\/p>\n Allen said the monument is a violation of the First Amendment\u2019s Establishment Clause. She noted how the commandments on the courthouse monument are interpreted differently in the Torah.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very alienating to be in a group where I imagine I\u2019m very much in the minority here, but I don\u2019t feel that way in this interfaith group of friends who really embrace, accept, honor, love, cherish all faiths, and people of no faith as well,\u201d Allen said. \u201cAnd we all have the right to be here, and we all have the right to worship in our own way without feeling that we are essentially excluded.\u201d<\/p>\n David Grebel was also at Friday\u2019s silent protest. A retired pastor from the Celebration Community Church in Fort Worth, Grebel said it was important for him to stand against what he calls Christian nationalism.<\/p>\n \u201cThat Christian nationalist prayer that leaves no space for the people that I pastored in an LGBTQ congregation here in Fort Worth,\u201d Grebel said. And it\u2019s important that I stand up in voice that there needs to be room for all of God\u2019s children, not just the ones that they self-select.\u201d<\/p>\n Krause said he was glad to see peaceful protestors at the ceremony but denied the allegation of promoting Christian nationalism.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has nothing to do with any kind of label other than it\u2019s part of the history and tradition and fabric of America,\u201d Krause said. \u201cAnd we think that that\u2019s a thing we\u2019re celebrating and a thing worth passing down to future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n Penelope Rivera is KERA’s Tarrant County Accountability Reporter. Got a tip? Email Penelope Rivera at privera@kera.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n Marissa Greene is a Report for America corps member, covering faith for the Fort Worth Report. You can contact her at marissa.greene@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260116_Divera-Ten-Commandments-11--1024x683.jpg\")
Texas Rep. Nate Schatzline offered the invocation during the Ten Commandments monument dedication ceremony in downtown Fort Worth on Jan. 16, 2026. (Christine Vo | Fort Worth Report) <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260116_Divera-Ten-Commandments-5--1024x683.jpg\")
A group of protestors gather near the Tarrant County Courthouse during a dedication ceremony for a monument displaying the Ten Commandments on Jan. 16, 2026. (Christine Vo | Fort Worth Report) <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260116_Divera-Ten-Commandments-3--1024x683.jpg\")
Attendees hold American flags during the Tarrant County Ten Commandments monument dedication ceremony on Jan. 16, 2026. (Christine Vo | Fort Worth Report) <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260116_Divera-Ten-Commandments-4--1024x683.jpg\")
Attendees hold their hands over their hearts during the Pledge of Allegiance at a Jan. 16 dedication ceremony for the installation of a Ten Commandments monument outside the Tarrant County Courthouse. (Christine Vo | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n