{"id":633742,"date":"2026-07-11T12:15:56","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T12:15:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=633742"},"modified":"2026-07-11T12:15:56","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T12:15:56","slug":"fierce-backlash-forces-fort-worth-pd-to-unblock-libs-of-tiktok-on-x-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=633742","title":{"rendered":"Fierce backlash forces Fort Worth PD to unblock Libs of TikTok on X"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div>\n

Apparently unable to handle criticism, the Fort Worth, Texas Police Department blocked the popular Libs of TikTok social media account but soon backed down under pressure.<\/p>\n

LOTT ran afoul of the Lone Star State cop shop when it brought attention to a female officer who threatened<\/a> to arrest two preachers over their \u201coffensive\u201d speech during an incident at last month\u2019s Trinity Pride Fest, a celebration of the homosexual lifestyle and other forms of deviance explicitly condemned in the Holy Bible.<\/p>\n

Officer Sarah Stogner was caught in the footage threatening to cuff and haul off Rich Penkoski and David Grisham, who were using a bullhorn to preach the gospel, telling the sidewalk preachers, \u201cIf someone is offended by your talking, then we have a problem,\u201d a statement that flies in the face of free speech.<\/p>\n

\n

Female Texas Cop THREATENS to ticket a retired officer and Christian street preacher for \u201coffensive speech\u201d<\/p>\n

Cop: \u201cIf someone is offended by your talking, then we have a problem\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Man: \u201cYou\u2019re going to ticket us for \u2018offensive\u2019 speech?\u201d<\/p>\n

Cop: \u201cYes, I am\u201d<\/p>\n

This cop is blatantly\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/qX0UjnRBSL<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) July 8, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The video of the confrontation went viral after being shared by the account, which is influential with conservatives and has 4.7 million followers on X \u2013 and in retaliation, was blocked by the Fort Worth PD\u2019s official account.<\/p>\n

\n

UPDATE: The @fortworthpd<\/a> has now BLOCKED us. Lmao \"\ud83d\ude02\" https:\/\/t.co\/1X0tgNE8g2<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/08QSyB4dha<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) July 10, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The backlash was fierce as X users rallied to LOTT\u2019s defense, pointing out that it\u2019s illegal to trample on free speech rights.<\/p>\n

\n

The Fort Worth PD police account is an official government account. Because these pages serve as official government channels, courts\u2014including the U.S. Supreme Court\u2014have consistently ruled that blocking citizens based on their political or critical viewpoints violates their\u2026 https:\/\/t.co\/eENV9uabKj<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Megan Basham (@megbasham) July 10, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Dear @fortworthpd<\/a>,<\/p>\n

Retired federal prosecutor here. I see you\u2019ve blocked @libsoftiktok<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As a public law enforcement agency, you are constitutionally barred from viewpoint-based censorship of citizens on your social media platforms \u2014 especially those critical of your department.\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/Xg0egXSJtL<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Reeve Swainston (@ReeveAndSasha) July 10, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

.@GregAbbott_TX<\/a> the police chief of one of your largest cities is continuing to allow his officers and now his social media team to violate citizens\u2019 free speech rights. It is illegal for the Fort Worth Police Department to block @libsoftiktok<\/a>. Are you going to address this? https:\/\/t.co\/YVawMvBf19<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Megan Basham (@megbasham) July 10, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

I don\u2019t think that they can legally block you. Government entities that have done this in the past have been held in violation of the 1st amendment. Which is on par with an agency that apparently doesn\u2019t know what the 1st amendment is.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Wade Miller (@WadeMiller) July 10, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

That\u2019s actually unconstitutional. I\u2019ll represent you for free to get hou unblocked if you\u2019d like. Email me cj@gfalaw.us<\/p>\n

\u2014 Texas2AAttorney (@CJGRISHAM) July 10, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

That is considered a 1st amendment violation because the FWPD social media page is considered a \u201cpublic forum\u201d and they receive taxpayer money. Also, a violation of the Texas State Open Records Act.<\/p>\n

According to the Supreme Court (Lindke v. Freed), officials and department\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 Michael \"\ud83c\udff4\u200d\u2620\ufe0f\" (@Rocksalt73) July 10, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Rather than be consumed by a growing public relations dumpster fire, the department backed down, unblocking Libs of TikTok.<\/p>\n

\n

UPDATE: @fortworthpd<\/a> just unblocked us after many people pointed out that it\u2019s illegal for them to block us and tagged AG Paxton<\/p>\n

They\u2019re terrified https:\/\/t.co\/wUJfF2aOPD<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/vNyik0FV35<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) July 10, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cUPDATE: @fortworthpd just unblocked us after many people pointed out that it\u2019s illegal for them to block us and tagged AG Paxton,\u201d LOTT wrote, crowing about the reversal. \u201cThey\u2019re terrified.\u201d<\/p>\n

Users had success in getting the block lifted after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton were tagged.<\/p>\n

\n

Thanks! They just unblocked us after many people tagged @KenPaxtonTX<\/a> and pointed out that it\u2019s unconstitutional<\/p>\n

\u2014 Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) July 10, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cThey unblocked us. They\u2019re panicking,\u201d the account wrote in another post, spiking the ball over the win for free speech.<\/p>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Apparently unable to handle criticism, the Fort Worth, Texas Police Department blocked the popular Libs of TikTok social media account but soon backed down under pressure. LOTT ran afoul of the Lone Star State cop shop when it brought attention to a female officer who threatened to arrest two preachers over their \u201coffensive\u201d speech during… Continue reading Fierce backlash forces Fort Worth PD to unblock Libs of TikTok on X<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":633733,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[18,19,10,21,12,11,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-633742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cancel-culture","category-censorship","category-civil-liberties","category-election-integrity","category-equal-justice","category-free-speech","category-religious-freedom","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=633742"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633742\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/633733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=633742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=633742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=633742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}