YouTuber BZWatchDog reported in his Wednesday night livestream that YouTuber and first amendment auditor Manuel Mata was convicted of obstruction in Fort Worth, Texas, on Wednesday just days after fellow first amendment auditor Carolyn “Carolina in Ft. Worth” Rodriguez was convicted of similar charges.
According to BZ, Mata was found guilty of interference and received 90 days in jail, a fine of $500.00 and was assigned anger management classes for interfering in an active investigation earlier this year.
Mata received a PR Bond upon indicating that he was appealing the decision, Mata was freed, and his sentence will not take effect until after his appeal is heard. Conditions of his PR bond have not been released at this time.
The activist’s release is similar to what happened in Carolyn Rodriguez’s case earlier in the week as Fort Worth has a policy where non-violent offenders in misdemeanor cases are freed as they await appeal of their sentences.
Rodriguez also livestreamed on Wednesday and indicated that she was set to have been released from jail on Tuesday before being released on a PR bond on Monday. In her estimation, her sentence for obstruction would have been over on Tuesday due to credits given to non-violent offenders in the Fort Worth jail as the jail has severe overcrowding issues.
The YouTuber stated that upon noting that she was set to be released, the Judge in the case gave her a PR bond and changed the sentence in the case from time in jail to 15 months of probation, which was then suspended due to her announcing an appeal.
Rodriguez described it as a grand conspiracy against her as she would have been free from the case without limits on her auditing on Tuesday had the Judge not changed her sentence.
She pledged that she would return to auditing immediately and the terms of her PR bond requiring her to stay twenty-five feet away from traffic accidents and active crime scenes would never come into play as she assured her fans that she always stayed that distance away from police during her audits.
Rodriguez was convicted of obstruction after she walked through an active crime scene earlier in the year and refused to follow police instructions to leave the scene. She has announced both an appeal of her charges and a future civil lawsuit against the city of Fort Worth.
Multiple news agencies reported on Wednesday that the officer involved in Rodriguez’s arrest in that incident was fired on Wednesday for using what was deemed excessive force against Rodriguez.
Officer Matthew Krueger, an eight-year veteran of the Fort Worth police force, was fired on Wednesday after an internal affairs investigation showed that he used excessive force in his apprehension of Rodriguez, who has hospitalized after her head hit the ground during a struggle with Krueger during the incident.
The investigation showed that Krueger’s actions were “unjustified” and against department policy. Krueger had been transferred to a role that limited his public interaction during the investigation.
Reacting to the firing, YouTuber BZWatchDog claimed that Mata and Rodriguez, who both had negative run ins with Kruger in the past, will have new ammunition to have their convictions overturned and to win their pending civil cases against Fort Worth police.
BZWatchDog promised his fans that because the Fort Worth policed department essentially admitted guilt in the firing of Krueger, the YouTubers may be able to establish “case law” to give first amendment auditors new rights when dealing with police officers.
This is a developing story.
