Anti-police activist Carolyn Rodriguez has been convicted and sentenced to 18 months of probation after criminally disrupting a Tarrant County Commissioners Court meeting earlier this year.
The incident occurred in January when Rodriguez was removed from the courtroom for shouting obscenities and insults, creating a disturbance that violated the county’s meeting rules. Tarrant County Commissioners Court prohibits swearing during public comment, according to KERA News.
Rodriguez, who has built an online following of nearly 100,000 subscribers on YouTube, is known for her frequent uploads targeting law enforcement. Her videos often feature titles such as “CLOWNS WITH GUNS!” and “ARE COPS REALLY THIS DUMB?”—part of her long-running pattern of anti-police behavior.
“This cop is a Lieutenant, and he illegally got my ID under threat of arrest and illegally detained me. Beverly Hills must be proud of this LYING COP caught on video. I will make a complaint so it goes in his permanent file, and if I am still not satisfied, I will sue him since his qualified immunity will be gone. Doing it through small claims court will be soooo easy,” Rodriguez stated in another YouTube video.
Rodriguez’s legal team argued the case was a matter of First Amendment rights, but Judge Brian Bolton rejected that defense, siding with prosecutors who emphasized that the issue was not what Rodriguez said, but how she said it—specifically, the disruptive manner that violated courtroom conduct rules.
As part of her sentencing, Rodriguez is banned from attending future Tarrant County Commissioners Court meetings and must serve 270 days in jail. She was also ordered to pay a $2,000 fine if she violates the terms of her probation.
This would not be the only time that Rodriguez was in trouble with the law. Prosecutors used a video of Rodriguez filming herself entering a county building, using a government computer to pull up her channel to make the case that she is a sensationalist, reported KERA News.
Lloyd Whelchel, the prosecutor, urged the jury to impose the harshest sentence—one year in jail and a $4,000 fine—citing Rodriguez’s ongoing defiance of the law. Despite being ordered to stay away from police as a condition of her bond, Whelchel noted that Rodriguez has continued to post videos targeting law enforcement on YouTube.
He also cited her December conviction for interfering with public duties, which she is currently appealing.
“Can you imagine having to deal with her just for doing your job?” Whelchel asked the jury, reported KERA News.
Rodriguez is not the only one removed for criminally disrupting the court.
Former UTA instructor Charles Hermes was arrested in January for disrupting the meeting, and his trial is scheduled for September.
The Dallas Express reached out to Rodriguez for comment but did not receive a response.