Fort Worth activist injured and arrested while filming police

A Fort Worth activist was injured early Sunday morning while being arrested and filming several Fort Worth police officers. The police department said the incident was under investigation.

According to Fort Worth police, officers responded to a hit-and-run crash in the 1000 block of Foch Street around 3:30 p.m. Sunday. The incident involved a suspected drunk driver who crashed into a vehicle and a building and then fled on foot, police said in a news release.

While officers were investigating, a woman named Carolyn Rodriguez approached and was ordered to cross the street, police said. When she refused, officers used force to arrest her. Police said she was injured in the incident. Rodriguez was taken to a local hospital before being taken to jail.

Rodriguez, known online as CFW Carolina, has around 88,000 YouTube subscribers and regularly posts “copwatching” videos in which she films police officers to prevent them from violating people’s rights. Rodriguez was involved in live streaming at the time of her arrest and was charged with obstruction of public duty, resisting arrest, evading arrest and making a false alarm or false report – all misdemeanors.

In the video, which has been viewed 76,000 times as of Tuesday, Rodriguez stands on a sidewalk, filming officers investigating the crash and commenting on the situation. After about three minutes, she approaches officers. She begins questioning officers and a tow truck driver, asking why they are towing a vehicle in what Rodriguez said is a private lot with no tow sign.

It is not clear from the video whether the car towed by police is involved in the accident. In a video posted Tuesday, Rodriguez said she believed officers were towing all the cars in the parking lot after she heard someone yelling to police that they had paid to park in the lot.

Rodriguez then finds a sign saying that the parking is metered and asks the police officers how they know if the owner of the car paid or not. She approaches two police officers and continues to question them when a third officer approaches her and tells her to move to the other side of the street.

Rodriguez initially refuses.

“You can go to the other side of the street or you will be arrested,” the officer then said. “I will not warn you again.”

“What are you talking about?” asked Rodriguez. “Why? Tell me why first.”

One of the officers tells Rodriguez that they are investigating, while the other officer tells Rodriguez that she is under arrest and tells her to put her hands behind her back.

The officer tells Rodriguez to stop resisting as she drops the camera and the screen goes black. An audio recording can then be heard of the officer again telling her to stop resisting and another person can also be heard saying that Rodriguez is bleeding.

About 10 seconds pass between the moment the police officer tells Rodriguez to cross the street and the moment he tells her she is under arrest.

In Rodriguez’s video from Tuesday, she can be seen with a black eye, a bloody nose and cuts around her eyes and mouth. Rodriguez said in the video that she suffered a concussion in the incident, as well as a dislocated shoulder and elbow, and that her mouth and eye required stitches.

In a statement, Fort Worth City Council member Chris Nettles called the incident “alarming,” saying Rodriguez was knocked to the ground during her arrest and the officer knocked her unconscious.

Nettles said he is calling on Fort Worth police to immediately release body camera footage of the incident. He said he plans to convene a board meeting with Fort Worth police command staff next week to better understand what happened.

In the press release, Fort Worth police stated that the department is investigating the incident.

“We are committed to accountability and transparency in all our activities and will ensure that this investigation is thorough and impartial,” the press release said.

Rodriguez and her attorney did not immediately respond to phone and email messages seeking comment Tuesday.