We have all noticed the erosion of the ability in the UK and in Europe of people to speak their minds. The EU’s Digital Services Act, one that was championed by Hillary Clinton, is a direct attempt at censoring information that appears on the Internet. One of its key provisions is the removal of dis-Information from various media platforms. This has been challenged as a direct attack on the freedom of speech that Americans enjoy.
In the UK tens of thousands of people have been fined for content they posted online. People have been arrested for speaking out in a way that makes other people “uncomfortable” or causes people to feel “offended.” In Germany an entire political party has been attacked through various interpretations of this act.
Of course, that could never happen in America, right? Americans are protected by the First Amendment.
Well, what happens in any of the other Five Eyes countries often is a precursor to similar activities in this country. A recent encounter between a street preacher and a Fort Worth, TX police officer bears a remarkable similarity to events happening overseas.
The police officer told the Christian street preacher she’d write him a ticket for the content of his sermon — not for blocking traffic, not for a fight. It would be for what he said.
“𝘐𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮” the officer told him on camera. When the preacher and a retired federal law enforcement officer standing nearby pushed back, she didn’t back down: “𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘤𝘩, 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦’𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘰 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.”
The preacher, @wfcpreacher, asked her directly: “𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘶𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘤𝘩?” “𝘠𝘦𝘴,” she answered, “𝘪𝘵’𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵.” His reply: “𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵.”
A second video from the same encounter caught another officer clarifying exactly how far the rule stretches. Asked point blank, “𝘚𝘰 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘹𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘯?” the officer replied: “𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘊 𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵, 𝘶𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺. 𝘐’𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘴.”
This raises the obvious question. The officers are claiming that they are just following the rules that they have been given. Just who is making up these rules that violate the First Amendment?
Quoting Scripture from a sidewalk is now a citable offense in Fort Worth if the wrong person hears it and complains. There is no way that this is 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐜t. One’s rights under the First Amendment do not end where someone else’s feelings begin. The First Amendment was written to protect unpopular speech.
I wonder if a Muslim preacher said this on the street, would that person be cited?
🚨 UPDATE: This Fort Worth TX police officer is facing mass demands to be FIRED after she issued a citation warning to a Christian preacher for “OFFENSIVE SPEECH”
This is AMERICA, not Europe!
She straight up claimed: “If someone is offended by your talking, WE HAVE A PROBLEM!”… pic.twitter.com/4KlKYbMlIr
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) July 9, 2026