This is the sort of thing we expect out of the U.K. or other censorship-loving European nations. It's not something we expect out of the great state of Texas. In Fort Worth, police supervising an 'all-ages Pride event' warned street preachers they could be 'cited' if someone is offended by their speech.
In body cam footage, the police are seen speaking to a street preacher at the event.
🚨FORT WORTH, TEXAS🚨Police told street preachers at the FW all-ages Pride event they could be cited if someone was offended by their speech. Asked if calling a transgender woman “sir” was citable, an officer replied, “It’s a gray area.”
— Carlos Turcios (@Carlos__Turcios) June 28, 2026
Follow:@Carlos__Turcios@DallasExpress pic.twitter.com/DSAtqZNmW1
"I'm being dead serious," the man says, "if a biological male comes up to me who says he's a woman, and I say 'sir,' and he gets offended, is that a citable offense? I call a biological male a male and he says 'I'm offended,' ... is that a citable offense, if he's offended by that speech?"
"We're talking a gray area right now," the officer replies. "We're not talking about earlier ... that's a vague charge."
"I'm genuinely curious," the man interjects.
"I don't believe I would cite that for offensive language," the officer continues. "Offensive language to me is calling somebody the N-word, curse words."
"We don't curse, we're preachers," the man replied.
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"No, I agree, but it's more like calling somebody a male, I don't necessarily find that offensive," the officer says.
"You don't, but what if they do?" the man asks.
"That's what I'm saying. If they come up and say, 'Hey, I'm offended by that' and you continue to do that, well, then that's just becoming offensive," the officer says. "Then we're moving into the potential."
"So what if I'm offended by what they said?" the man then asks. "Will they get cited?"
There's a very pregnant pause before the officer answers.
"Are you offended by it?" the officer asks.
"I'm offended by all of this," the man says. "I'm offended by seeing half-naked men run around with children. I am deeply offended by that."
The gray area is they’re taking orders by people who want the opposition silenced.
— Just Evan™ (@EvanPrinciple) June 28, 2026
The @dojphofficial needs to get involved for civil rights violations.
It's been clear for a while that some are more equal than others.
Then get cited
— The Judgmental Dog (@the_addressor) June 28, 2026
No shortage of lawyers will happily take this one on the merit of free speech
Listen to five minutes of what's said at an ICE protest that's protected, this street goes both ways
Yes, it does. Even if the Left doesn't want it to.
Is there some kind of Constitution-free zone in Fort Worth?
— Jim Hanson (@JimHansonDC) June 28, 2026
There is no right to be free from being offended and every right to offend whoever you want. https://t.co/icGXM0Lscp
You do not have a right not to be offended. Even the racial slurs the officer mentions are still protected speech. Some may find that abhorrent, but it's protected nonetheless. The First Amendment isn't written to protect polite speech. It's meant to protect the controversial speech; without that, we do not have free speech.
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