Former Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price: I stood against Black Lives Matter ‘extremists’

Former Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price is taking a stand against Black Lives Matter “extremists” in response to claims by her primary opponent in the Tarrant County judge’s race.

In a minute-and-a-half long video posted to Twitter on Tuesday, Price said her opponent in the Republican primary had lied and said she supported “BLM, anti-police protesters.”

While Price didn’t explicitly name opponent Tim O’Hare, two ads put out by O’Hare’s campaign claim Price encouraged Black Lives Matter protesters. He also posted a picture on Twitter of Price at a Black Lives Matter protest.

Early voting for the March 1 primary runs from Feb. 14-25.

“As you know, my opponent for county judge has proven he will say anything to win, even if that means lying,” Price said in her video.

Price said that when “BLM extremists” made efforts to defund the police, she said she “stood tall” for officers and increased funding for public safety and provided better pay for the police. The words Stood against Black Lives Matter appear on the video.

Price’s video was in response to what her opponent had said, she said Wednesday. She said she doesn’t support violence or violence against the police department.

She said she supported peaceful protest and that she hasn’t distanced herself from the Black Lives Matter movement.

Asked for comment, O’Hare wrote in an email about a June 2020 interview Price did WFAA Channel 8 in which she said she hoped the protesters didn’t lose their enthusiasm. He called Black Lives Matter a “destructive organization.”

“I am in a race to represent the voters of Tarrant County, which I believe the majority of hold conservative values like my own,” O’Hare said. “They do not want to defund the police. They do not want Critical Race Theory in their kids’ classrooms. They do not want the BLM platform to become the new constitutional standard for this country.”

As mayor, Price supported the creation of the city’s Race and Culture Task Force and was vocal following the death of Atatiana Jefferson, a Black woman who was shot by a white Fort Worth police officer in October 2019.

Amid protests following the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in May 2020, Price said she was “committed to continuing the work we have started to root out racism, inequities and disparities at a systemic and policy level,” as well as grow her understanding of the issues.

In June 2020, she told protesters gathered outside City Hall: “I want to tell you all who are here today and everyone that’s protesting we see you and we hear you and we are listening and changes are being done.”

As she left the mayoral office in June 2021, Price emphasized in an interview with the Star-Telegram it was important to continue equity work in the city.

“I hope that whoever comes in will be open to talking. I think the key is you’ve got to be open and honest about it,” Price said. “For far too long, not just in Fort Worth but everywhere, people just didn’t want to deal with it — it’s a tough issue. And most of us, probably including me, have been guilty of that.”

Asked what she was doing to build trust within Tarrant County’s communities of color, Price said her campaign is reaching out to all voters, but focusing on those who voted in Republican primaries in the past.

“This issue that came up with what we said in the video strictly applied to my opponent’s charges,” Price said. “And he’s stretching the truth and making everybody believe that I support Black Lives Matter over my police department. I’ve never not supported my police department.”

In response to the same question, O’Hare said he wanted the same thing for all Tarrant families — jobs, less taxes, resources for law enforcement and for children to not feel like they were being categorized by race in the classroom.

When they saw Price’s campaign video, activists Kwame Osei and Nysse Nelson of Enough is Enough said they weren’t surprised.

“She’s marketing based off of the fears and stereotypes that had been generated by the far-right media,” said Osei, the group’s president. “I can’t say that I blame her, I know the psyche behind it. I just hope that the citizens of Tarrant County are a lot more informed and a lot more wiser than the whole fear-mongering tactics.”

The fact that Black Lives Matter is being used as a campaign tactic is “disgusting,” Nelson said.

This is where we are as a country now, Osei said.

“Our political tactics now are no longer about policies,” Osei said. “It’s now more about one’s opinions and feelings without facts.”

Osei said he noticed a lack of outward support from Price when she was mayor.

“For me personally, it didn’t do anything but just confirm how she truly felt, because while she was mayor, she was very tight-lipped about the Black Lives Matter movement, and even with the whole shooting of Atatiana Jefferson here in our own city,” Osei said. “So when I see it, I see that it’s almost like an alarm sounding off for those who have those same ideals in regards to what they think that the Black Lives Matter protest is about.”

Nelson was quick to call out how Price’s campaign video was antithetical to what she experienced working with the former mayor in meetings during the protests.

“She met with us on several occasions,” Nelson said. “Like, if you’re against us and you stood tall as a mayor, why are you even meeting with ‘BLM extremists,’ as she called us in the video? Like, why even sit down with us?”