Silence And Supremacy: Unmasking Tarrant County's Leadership Crisis
Racial injustice and political choices are colliding in local governance.
I had plans for something else entirely yesterday, but I got sucked into watching the Tarrant County Commissioners Court. It lasted for eight hours. What I saw yesterday was shocking and disturbing. Tarrant County has a white supremacy problem, which I previously discussed, but I didn’t realize how bad the situation was until I watched the eight-hour Commissioners Court hearing yesterday.
My previous writing on Tarrant County’s white supremacy problem:
There were three major issues discussed at the hearing yesterday:
Since 2017, when Republican Sheriff Bill Waybourn was elected, there have been 63 deaths in Tarrant County jail. Two of those deaths happened in the last few weeks. Most of these deaths have been Black men; almost all of them were men who either had mental illness or intellectual disabilities.
The Trump-endorsed Tarrant County District Attorney, Phil Sorrells, has decided to go after Crystal Mason again after a Texas appeals court overturned Mason’s five-year prison sentence. Sorrells intends to re-convict her.
Community members wanted to make their voices heard about the racist display we saw last month from Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare toward Commissioner Alisa Simmons.
As you can imagine, the entire eight-hour meeting was racially charged.
Sheriff Bill Waybourn and the failures of Tarrant County jails.
Sheriffs in Texas are typically responsible for operating and managing the county jail. This duty includes overseeing the staff, ensuring the safety and security of the inmates, and managing the daily administrative and logistical challenges of running a jail facility. Given the large number of deaths in Tarrant County jail, this aspect of Sheriff Waybourn’s responsibilities has come under intense scrutiny.
The Texas Rangers are investigating some of the deaths. Commissioner Simmons and other community members have asked for the US Department of Justice to launch an investigation into the deaths at the Tarrant County jail.
Sheriff Waybourn should have done something to address the deaths in the jail long before now. Still, not only has he not taken any steps to eliminate the repeated deaths, but he has also failed to respond to the community or the Commissioners Court with reason or explanation.
Although Waybourn hasn’t been able to make time to address the issues in the jail or respond to community requests, he has had the time to go shooting with Kyle Rittenhouse and multiple others whose careers are based on racism.
Here’s the cast of crew he’s pictured with:
Kyle Rittenhouse, who famously drove to another state to murder two people protesting for the lives of Black people.
Cary Cheshire is the president of Texas for Strong Borders, a group with widely-known ties to neo-Nazis and white supremacists.
Jake Neider used to be Representative Tony Tinderholt’s legislative director when he made headlines for hate-filled social media posts touting Christian Nationalism.
Then, several months back, there was another local controversy when Sheriff Waybourn spoke at a Turning Point USA event at UT Arlington. Turning Point USA has long had ties with white supremacy.
Sheriff Waybourn has a long history of documented racism. When you add that to his going on shooting excursions with accused white supremacists and then speaking at an event of a group with long ties to white supremacy, it’s fair to ask:
Is the reason Bill Waybourn won’t address the deaths in the jail or respond to the community because most of the deaths have been Black men?
The community is angry. Rightfully so.
It’s important to note the diversity of Tarrant County.
Tarrant County is a majority-minority county, with people of color making up 58% of the population. The travesty of Tarrant County being run by alleged white supremacists or people with ties to white supremacy cannot be understated.
The jail deaths were only one-third of the meeting yesterday.
Tarrant County District Attorney’s decision to go after Crystal Mason, once again.
From the ACLU: Crystal Mason thought she was performing her civic duty by filling out a provisional ballot in the 2016 election. She didn’t know it would land her a five-year prison sentence, upending her family and the life she had built. At the time, Ms. Mason was on federal supervised release, a preliminary period of freedom for individuals who have served their entire time of incarceration in federal prison. Ms. Mason didn’t know, and nobody told her, that the state considered her ineligible to vote while on supervised release. Because her name didn’t appear on voter rolls, she filed a provisional ballot, consistent with federal law. The state never counted her ballot but has still sought to send her to prison for an innocent mistake.
In March, a Texas appeals court acquitted Crystal Mason.
Now, Tarrant County District Attorney Phil Sorrells wants Crystal Mason’s illegal voting conviction reinstated. Sorrells appeared at the Commissioners Court to explain his decision to go after Mason again. You can see that clip here:
Mason has already paid a higher price than anyone in Texas for “illegal voting.” This move by Sorrells reeks of racism and misogyny, finding the easiest target with the least ability to defend herself so he can polish his MAGA credentials.
That’s right, Sorrells is a hand-picked MAGA DA and has personally been endorsed by Donald Trump.
Crystal Mason didn’t deliberately vote illegally. She mistakenly believed she could and even asked for guidance at the polling place before she voted. The facts of the case never warranted five years in jail, which is why this case made national headlines and was taken up by the ACLU.
The reason Sorrells gave for wanting to re-convict Crystal Mason was to “send a message to all would-be illegal voters.”
Given the facts of the case and Sorrells’ ties with MAGA extremism, it’s fair to ask:
Is Sorrells looking to persecute Crystal Mason because she is Black? Is Sorrells trying to scare other Black people from voting?
The community is angry. Rightfully so.
County Judge Tim O’Hare believes he can talk to his Black female peer in any way he chooses.
On April 16, at the last County Commissioner’s meeting, Judge O’Hare told Commissioner Alisa Simmons two things:
“Sit down and be quiet,” after she questioned a political contract on the county’s taxpayer dime.
“Have a semblance of class,” after a debate on whether another Commissioner had already voted on something.
Check it out:
What the clip didn’t show was that throughout the entire meeting, whenever Simmons spoke, O’Hare would make faces or roll his eyes.
Many people in Tarrant County felt that the way Tim O’Hare degraded and disrespected Commissioner Simmons was based on racism and sexism. This is why many community members attended yesterday’s meeting to express how they felt about O’Hare’s words and actions.
Tim O’Hare told a Black woman, his peer, not his subordinate, to “sit down and be quiet” when she questioned his use of taxpayer money. Only minutes later, he accused her, a Black woman, of being classless. These tropes are as old as America, and supporters of O’Hare rushed to his defense to testify that he wasn’t racist.
Tarrant County GOP leader Bo French and Republican Representative Nate Schatzline were leading the charge, defending O’Hare’s actions and accusing Simmons of “race-baiting.”
I’ve clipped Bo French’s Klan parade, which you can see here (if you can stomach it):
Many of these speakers used racist dog whistles to attack Simmons while taking the position that O’Hare was innocent of racism himself.
However, please don’t get too upset because the number of people who supported Commissioner Simmons yesterday far outnumbered those who supported O’Hare, including my state Representative, Chris Turner.
Some of them were quite passionate, and several called out the racism of the GOP members who spoke previous to them. Check it out:
Racism is front and center in Tarrant County, and it’s coming from the local GOP officials.
The community is angry. Rightfully so.
The importance of local elections cannot be overstated, especially in a majority-minority county like Tarrant, where the decisions of local officials can drastically affect the lives of its residents.
For individuals of color in Tarrant County, these are not distant problems observed from the sidelines; they are immediate and dangerous realities that could mean life or death.
The connection between elected officials’ oppressive actions and the urgent necessity for active, informed voting is clear. Voting in local elections offers a direct line of defense against the misuse of power that threatens the lives and liberties of citizens, particularly those of color.
As the community rallies behind Commissioner Simmons and continues challenging the status quo, let this be a call to action for all eligible voters. Every vote cast in a local election is a stance on issues like racial justice, police reform, public safety, and the integrity of our judicial system. It’s a vote for the type of community you want to live in—one that upholds the values of justice and equality or perpetuates division and injustice.
Engaging in local elections with an informed and critical eye is vital to self-preservation and community empowerment. Let the situation in Tarrant County serve as a resounding reminder: the power of the vote is profound and, in cases like these, could very well save lives.
Vote early, vote often, just vote.
Important 2024 primary RUNOFF election days:
May 17, 2024: Last day to apply by mail
May 20, 2024: First day of early voting.
May 24, 2024: Last day of early voting.
May 28, 2024: Last day to receive a ballot by mail.
May 28, 2024: Election day.
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Wow, what entitled, racist white men. I am disturbed by these examples, and I'm sure there are more. Texas, wake up and vote these guys out! Unbelievable that most voters are ostensibly just fine with all this. (Truth be told, they aren't paying attention.)
I have attended Commissioner Court meeting for over two years now. Since time O'Hare took office, it has gotten terrible. His treatment of employees is awful, publicly and privately. He isn't welcomed into Farmers Branch for a real reason. He is despised there. He is getting the same reputation in Tarrant County. He is cruel and mean and his associations with Mercy Culture church (such a misnomer) and allowing Sheriff Bill Waybourne to attend meetings associated with white militia is terrifying. Too many Texas sheriffs lean that way, actually.