A Dallas-native internet star is suing Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins, Commissioner John Wiley Price, and several fire marshals after he was removed from a commissioners court meeting in May.
Alex Stein, as seen in a video posted to his official Youtube channel, attended the May 17 meeting of Dallas County Commissioners Court. During the public comment portion of the meeting, Stein approached the podium and began reading from a D Magazine article highlighting some of Jenkins’ alleged activities during college.
After speaking for several seconds, Price cut Stein off and told him he could not “admonish” or “attack” members of the commission during a meeting. Stein and Price went back and forth a few times while the rest of the commissioners remained silent.
Stein told the court he wanted answers regarding some of the incidents mentioned in the article, including a police chase that Jenkins reportedly led and an instance of alleged trespassing in a female dorm.
Price accused Stein of attacking the court and asserted Stein was “done” before fire marshals physically escorted Stein from the room.
The lawsuit, obtained by The Dallas Express, accuses the court of stifling Stein’s first amendment right to free speech and claims Stein suffered economic and non-economic losses from the event.
Additionally, Stein claims the court violated the fifth amendment for not providing due process, the fourth amendment, which protects against excessive force, and the Texas Open Meetings act.
The lawsuit also includes a statement from Commissioner J.J. Koch, who said Price acted unlawfully in removing Stein.
“Commissioner Price, I believe unlawfully, had Alex Stein removed. Alex Stein started to read about Judge Jenkins in an article about some of his past bad behavior,” Koch stated. “The statute that someone can be removed under is basically someone who is profane, slanderous, or boisterous.”
Koch continued by saying Stein was not boisterous or profane, and if the article had been defamatory, Jenkins would have sued D Magazine previously.
The commissioners court rules state, “Any person making personal, impertinent, profane or slanderous remarks or who becomes boisterous while addressing and/or attending the commissioners court meeting shall be removed from the commissioners’ courtroom if security is so directed by the presiding officer.”
Court records show summons were brought against Jenkins and Price, but no official court dates have been set in the suit.
The Dallas Express reached out to Jenkins and Price on June 17, but neither was immediately available for comment.