No one will storm the Tarrant County Jail, but the spirit of Bastille Day will be alive as protesters gather at 8am tomorrow/Tuesday at Belknap Street and 100 N Burnett St to draw attention to all the inmate deaths under the oversight of Sheriff Bill Waybourn since he took office in 2017.
Deaths at Tarrant County Jail rank among the highest in the state. Seventy-three inmates have died between Waybourn’s first day and this year. Though mostly attributed to natural causes, drug overdoses, suicide, and COVID-19, they all — along with two homicides (Anthony Johnson Jr. in 2024 and Derick Wynn in 2019) — reflect a stark lack of diligence and transparency on behalf of the sheriff’s office, critics say.
Four inmates between the ages of 40 and 61 have died at the jail since June. The deaths of Mack Greer, James Johnson, Cal McCrae, and Victor Runnels have prompted Commissioner Alisa Simmons to demand an investigation into the jail’s medical procedures and protocols.
Organizers the Justice Network of Tarrant County, Fort Worth Area Indivisible, Indivisible TX12, Progressive Women of Arlington, Good Trouble Lunch Bunch, and Texas Jail Project will present speakers and be joined by local political candidates who believe “It Is Time for a Change.”
Rallygoers will march up Weatherford Street to the Tarrant County Administration Building, where they will address county commissioners at their regularly scheduled meeting at 10am specifically about the four recent jail deaths.
“Bastille Day commemorates the storming of a prison that had become a symbol of unchecked government power and injustice,” the organizers write. “We gather at the Tarrant County Jail for the same reason: to stand against a system where too many people, especially those accused of low-level offenses, are unable to afford bail and remain behind bars while lives are lost waiting for justice. Different century, different country, and a different prison, but the same belief endures: Liberty, accountability, and human dignity are worth demanding.”
Organizers stress the peacefulness of the rally. “The volunteers will not act as a mob and will not try to physically free anyone. We will demand that the commissioners do their job! We seek justice for the innocent and wrongfully imprisoned. We seek health care, not jails, for those incompetent to stand trial. We seek a speedy trial for those too poor to make bail. It will save the taxpayers millions of dollars if the county commissioners, district attorney, and judges finally do their jobs.”
Just as the storming of the Bastille launched the French Revolution, organizers hope their rally will mark a point in time when justice begins applying to everyone equally, not just the wealthy or the able-bodied.
