Texas Police Forced Walk Back Threats Against Christian Street Preachers At Pride Festival

A Texas police department is in damage control after it threatened to censor the speech of Christian street evangelists during a pride festival, following a heated confrontation that has drawn the attention of the federal government.

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On June 27, Sarah Stogner, a longtime officer with the Fort Worth Police Department, went viral after threatening street preachers Richard Penkoski and David Grisham with disorderly conduct citations over their religious speech at Trinity Pride Fest, according to WFAA.  

Leading up to the face-to-face clash, The Dallas Express reported that the preachers were blocked from public streets and sidewalks surrounding the pride event.

Female Texas Cop THREATENS to ticket a retired officer and Christian street preacher for “offensive speech”

Cop: “If someone is offended by your talking, then we have a problem…”

Man: “You’re going to ticket us for ‘offensive’ speech?”

Cop: “Yes, I am”

This cop is blatantly… pic.twitter.com/qX0UjnRBSL

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) July 8, 2026

“That ordinance means music, not talking. If someone is offended by your talking, then we have a problem,” Officer Stogner told the preachers.

One of the evangelists fired back: “That is a constitutional violation of our rights. I don’t care if they’re offended.” 

Stogner doubled down: “Okay, then I’ll write you the ticket, then we’ll go from there.” 

“You’re going to ticket us for ‘offensive’ speech?” the other preacher, who was recording the exchange, said.

“Yes, I am,” Stogner replied. 

In a separate exchange, another Fort Worth police officer warned the street preachers that they could face legal consequences if their Christian message offended others. The officers later issued the evangelists one citation of disorderly conduct related to loud noise from a bullhorn, according to The Dallas Express.

🚨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.”

Follow:@Carlos__Turcios@DallasExpress pic.twitter.com/DSAtqZNmW1

— Carlos Turcios (@Carlos__Turcios) June 28, 2026

The tense exchanges racked up tens of millions of views on X, fueling debate over free speech and religious liberty protections in one of the nation’s most conservative states.

“In Texas? Wow,” Elon Musk wrote on X. 

After the Department of Justice initiated a review of the incident, the Fort Worth police chief acknowledged his officers had mishandled the incident.

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“The biggest issue that I have is just the conversations and the way that we were describing what is lawful, what is not lawful,” Police Chief Eddie Garcia told WFAA in an interview. “When we’re right, we’re right, and when we’re wrong, we’re wrong.” 

“There certainly was a better way to have that communication, and we were wrong in the manner in which we communicated that. Certainly, we’re going to take accountability for it,” he added. 

Garcia added that accountability will include renewed training on the First Amendment. 

“We just trained up our command staff again with refresher courses. We’re going to be training our sergeants. We’re going to be training our officers,” Garcia said.

The proposed measures didn’t cut it for the street preachers, who argued the damage is already done. 

“They have already violated their rights,” Attorney CJ Grisham, who represents David Grisham (no relation),  said, disputing the noise ordinance citation. “It doesn’t meet the noise violation ordinance in any way whatsoever. So, just on its face, the charge is baseless,” he told WFAA.

Grisham alleged the viral exchange represents a troubling pattern with law enforcement, taking direct aim at Officer Stogner. 

“We have her on video doing this last year at the Pride festival. So, this is a pattern of abuse by Officer Stogner. But it’s not just her. Look at how many other officers were standing around,” Grisham said.

It’s unclear whether Stogner or any of the officers involved will face any disciplinary action for the incident. 

On Tuesday, Harmeet Dhillon, the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, demanded more information from the police department to determine whether “further formal action” was necessary. 

“Government actors cannot discriminate against viewpoints or restrict peaceful free speech just because it may be offensive to some,” Dhillon said. “Under this administration, the Civil Rights Division will defend free speech, as protected by the Constitution.”

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