A Fort Worth, Texas, police officer is under federal scrutiny after video surfaced showing her warning Christian street preachers that she could issue citations if their message was deemed “offensive.” This is a stance legal analysts say appears to contradict long‑established First Amendment protections for religious and political expression in public spaces. The Department of Justice (DOJ) Civil Rights Division sent a letter to the Fort Worth Police Department warning of possible 1st Amendment violations by the officer.
The DOJ demanded answers from City of Fort Worth officials after a viral video showed a police officer warning Christian street preachers that she could cite them for “offensive speech.” In a sharply worded letter sent to the City Attorney’s Office, DOJ’s Civil Rights Division said the incident may reflect a broader pattern of FWPD officers restricting or relocating citizens based on the content of their expression — a practice the Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled unconstitutional.
A video that went viral on social media shows a Fort Worth police officer confronting Rich Penkoski and David Grisham during the Trinity Pride Fest event in the city on June 27, the Christian Post reported. Multiple news outlets identified the officer as Sarah Stogner, a City of Fort Worth police officer.
In the video, the officer tells the street preachers that they could be cited for disorderly conduct “if someone is offended” by their speech.
“If someone is offended by your talking, then we have a problem,” the officer states.
“Wait, you’re going to ticket us for ‘offensive speech,’” one of the men asks the officer. “Yes,” she replies. She then modifies her stance, saying she would cite them for “disorderly conduct.”
Under Texas Penal Code § 42.01(a)(1), for a person to be cited for disorderly conduct, prosecutors must be able to prove that the words would be so inherently inflammatory that their utterance would incite an immediate breach of the peace.
Another video on social media shows the same officer confronting a person seeking to enter a public event. The officer tells the person the event organizers don’t want him to enter because their presence would be upsetting. She later admits that no one told her that this particular person was not welcome. She also threatened to arrest the person for “offensive” speech.
In the letter sent from Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, head of the DOJ Civil Rights Division, warned city officials, writing, “Government actors may not engage in viewpoint discrimination… simply because the speech may be unpopular, offensive, or controversial.”
Another Fort Worth police officer is seen in a video posted earlier this month where he is recorded as saying that simply calling a biological male “sir,” is a “grey area” that could lead to a ticket for “offending” a man who identifies as a woman.
AAG Dhillon demanded that the City of Fort Worth provide the DOJ with the department’s policies regarding the 1st Amendment, training materials, and administrative oversight records for any incident since 2015.
“The division takes First Amendment compliance seriously and remains steadfast in its responsibility to protect individuals exercising their constitutional rights,” Dhillon wrote.
The Fort Worth Police Department acknowledged that at least one of their officers made “certain statements that were not accurate,” Fox News reported.
“The City of Fort Worth and the Fort Worth Police Department recognize that incidents involving First Amendment activity require thoughtful consideration and understanding of the law,” a spokesperson for the department told Fox News.
“FWPD remains committed to protecting the constitutional rights of all individuals, regardless of the content or viewpoint of their speech,” the department explained. “A video that has circulated online captures only a portion of the interactions between the officer and the individuals involved. FWPD acknowledges that an officer involved in the incident made certain statements that were not accurate.”
Bob Price is the Breitbart Texas-Border team’s associate editor and senior news contributor. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday morning talk show. He also serves as president of Blue Wonder Gun Care Products.