Local activists condemn Fort Worth body cam leak investigation

FORT WORTH, Texas - A group of community activists are angry about an internal Fort Worth police investigation they believe is an act of retaliation aimed at finding who is responsible for leaking a controversial video of a mother and her children being arrested late last year.

The Next Generation Action Network group gathered Monday morning at Fort Worth city hall to get their message out in hopes of getting a response from the police department. They got their message out but did not get a response from anyone at city hall or even the police department.

"We, as a community, are outraged at the Fort Worth Police department that they are conducting this investigation,” said activist B.R. Daniels.

The group of local activists believes whoever released the body cam video of Officer William Martin’s arrest of Jacqueline Craig and her daughters should not be punished for providing transparency to an incident the police department already investigated.

"On behalf of the Craig family, we denounce and we ask that the Fort Worth Police Department call an end to the witch hunt for the individuals responsible or allegedly responsible for a, so called, leak,” said attorney Lee Merritt.

Based on media reports, the group believes two members of the police command staff are already facing retaliation. Sources tell FOX4 in all there are as many as a half a dozen officers under investigation, and the department will not respond until that investigation is complete. The issue is so sensitive that the Fort Worth Police Department's own public information officer recorded the protest.

Jacqueline Craig, who's at the center of the video controversy, declined to comment. But many activists believe her arrest and the decision to suspend but not fire Officer Martin should lead to more stringent police oversight.

"We demand that the Fort Worth City Council get up off their butt and City Manager David Cook immediately commission a citizens police oversight board with teeth, including subpoena power,” said community activist Dr. Michael Bell.

This group says they will return on Tuesday to demand answers from members of the city council as it gathers for its regularly scheduled meeting.