Tensions are mounting in Fort Worth over the firing of a veteran police officer for excessive use of force. NBC 5 spoke on Wednesday with several officers and with the woman at the center of the controversial arrest.
This all comes as protesters are preparing to meet at the Omni Hotel in downtown Fort Worth at noon Thursday for the year anniversary of another case that sparked community outrage: the arrest of Jacqueline Craig and her daughters.
It's only adding to the tensions as many officers are feeling discouraged and that their chief doesn't have their backs.
Craig's arrest in December 2016 quickly went viral, bringing harsh criticism against the department.
Now, it's a new face: Dorshay Morris.
"I did nothing wrong," Morris said at a press conference Wednesday.
But, critics say, it's the same problem.
"The Fort Worth Police Department needs to honestly deal with the issue of race within their police department," said Morris' attorney, Lee Merritt.
Back in August, Morris was Tased and arrested for aggravated assault, after she called police for help when her boyfriend was damaging her car and trying to kick in her door.
Veteran Sgt. Kenneth Pierce was fired for his handling of the case. Chief Joel Fitzgerald said that Morris was cooperating when Pierce got "impatient and initiated an unnecessary physical confrontation," dragging Morris by her hair then ordering a rookie officer to Tase her.
"I remember it, it was very difficult to watch," Morris said.
Morris had admitted that she had a knife to defend against her boyfriend, and a department use of force expert found that the officers acted well within department policy.
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But an internal affairs review determined there was no reason to arrest Morris, so any force was excessive.
Her charges were later dropped, and her attorney wants the officers charged instead.
"All law enforcement needs to know that they'll be held responsible for their own actions," Merritt said.
But Pierce's attorney, Terry Daffron, tried to frame the incident from the officers' point of view. The 911 dispatcher's initial call sheet only listed that Morris had a knife and was threatening to stab her boyfriend. It did not mention that she was acting in self-defense. Daffron said.
It was a tense situation that officers could face every day, and Daffron said that Pierce's firing will have a chilling effect.
"It makes officers hesitate, and when officers hesitate people get hurt, and people get killed," Daffron said.
NBC 5 spoke with several officers from varying points of view. Some do support the chief, while others think he's way out of line.
One said that while many officers are discouraged, they'll still gear up every day to "help who needs to be helped and put away those who need to go to jail."
