Protest Leaders Arrested Shortly After Meeting Mayor and Police Chief

Several hours after meeting with Mayor Betsy Price, Fort Worth Police Chief Ed Kraus, and city staffers to discuss the too-frequent killing of unarmed black men and women by white police officers, two leaders with the protest group Enough Is Enough were arrested last night.

Around 8 p.m. downtown at the Flying Saucer Draught Emporium, protest leader Nysse Nelson stood feet away from me as she addressed a few dozen customers, who were largely receptive to her message. Using a megaphone, she claimed that one protester, a woman named Kimberly, was recently fired by the owner of the gastropub for protesting alongside supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement. 

A Flying Saucer manager told me the next day that while Kimberly was fired, it was not because she joined the protests. When asked why she was fired, he said he could not comment further.

Soon after, a Fort Worth police department officer cited Nelson for violating the city’s noise ordinance. Protesters told police that several members of the movement had used a megaphone near businesses that evening and were not cited.

“They pick and choose who they want to take to jail,” a nearby protester said as Nelson was forced into a police SUV.

Nearby, a white police officer who identified himself as Sgt. Spencer responded to a protester.

“I hear what you are saying,” the officer said shortly before walking away. “You see how this was done. No force. I’m doing what I am instructed to do. I’m going to do it safely.” 

A second protester, later identified online as Manuel Arzatesifuentes, was arrested nearby as police drove off with Nelson. The twentysomething Hispanic male stood handcuffed near his wife, who later told me that police refused to explain why her husband was arrested. I also asked nearby police officers what they were charging him with and was not given an answer.

A horse-mounted all-white police patrol entered an already tense scene as cops drove Arzatesifuentes away. The protesters chose to regroup at the Tarrant County Courthouse before starting their second round of marches. After returning to the courthouse late that night, one protest leader announced a third arrest. 

“They just arrested Lucid,” the group was told, referring to Lucid Shinobi. “They came up on him like he was a terrorist. We are in a war. We messing with too much money.” 

Several livestream comments on the Weekly’s social media feed last night took offense with Enough Is Enough’s protest tactics, which have included entering private restaurants with loud chants of, “Fuck yo’ peace!”

The arrests come at a time when President Donald Trump is calling for law enforcement to “dominate” the streets and to halt Constitutionally protected demonstrations.

“If [authorities] are really gonna have to do a job, if somebody is really bad, you’re gonna have to do with it real strength, with real power,” Trump said.

Hours before the arrests of the two protest leaders, Price tweeted that she had met with “members of groups that have been protesting in the recent weeks. This was not my first meeting with those protesting, and it won’t be my last. Today, we discussed calls to action and ways we can make progress in the community. I have committed to bringing this discussion to a public city council work session so that the entire community can hear council take part in these critical conversations. Let’s keep working.” 

Several protesters I spoke with that evening see the arrests as a targeted attack on Enough Is Enough’s core leadership. The charges, which were listed on the county website hours later, include interring with public duties (Shinobi), giving false or fictitious information to a peace officer (Nelson), and obstructing a passageway (Arzatesifuentes).

United My Justice, known for its commitment to not enter private businesses, attracted around a dozen marchers downtown last evening. One leader with the group, who just gave her first name, Carol, said Enough Is Enough is misleading the youth into following them. 

Enough Is Enough, she said, are “making Fort Worth look bad. We should not be divided. We are fighting for injustice. [Enough Is Enough] took over our protest.”

On its Facebook page today, United My Justice said it will cease marching to focus on “other projects.”