Police Confront Street Preachers at Texas Pride Event

A recent incident involving Texas police and Christian street preachers has garnered significant attention from the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Civil Rights Division.

David Grisham, along with another member of his team, faced off with a female officer while they were engaging with attendees at a Pride event in Fort Worth.

Critics pointed out that instead of protecting Grisham’s constitutional rights, the police officers escalated the situation by threatening arrest and issuing a citation.

Many viewers of the viral video, posted by a well-known TikTok account, remarked that the police officer seemed to infringe upon the evangelist’s freedom of speech and religious expression.

The officer stated, “If someone is offended by your story, that’s a problem. If they were offended by your speech…I’ll write you a ticket and we’ll go from there.”

A follow-up video captured more officers confronting Grisham, who ultimately received a citation for “unreasonable noise.” Interestingly, this citation is typically applied to noise from buildings or animals, not human voices.

A lawyer representing Grisham claimed that the officers failed to adhere to the local noise ordinance. Specifically, he noted that there was no decibel check performed, which should have been conducted according to regulations.

He also argued that the city’s noise limits exceeded those legally allowed by Texas state law. “Mr. Grisham was simply expressing his views on an important public matter,” the attorney added. “Instead of defending his rights, the police threatened him with arrest.”

In a statement, Officer Buddy Calzada explained that the confrontation started when the group used a bullhorn to amplify their message. He mentioned that police received complaints from a business owner and instructed the preachers to stop using the loudspeaker, but they refused. The bullhorn was later confiscated as evidence.

Calzada insisted that the officers did not impede anyone’s ability to express their opinions, clarifying that they could continue to speak without amplification. However, he conceded that some statements made by the officer were “not accurate.”

On Friday, Harmeet Dhillon, the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, indicated that the Department of Justice is looking into the matter, calling it “troublesome.”