Fort Worth City Council candidates meet again after scuffle

FORT WORTH, Texas - Two Fort Worth City Council candidates were in the same room again on Monday after a candidate forum turned physical last week.

District 8 Councilman Chris Nettles and one of his challengers, Payton Jackson, both filed police reports last Thursday after an interaction that led to the two being physically separated.

Fort Worth candidate forum

What Happened:

At another candidate forum at St. Andrews United Methodist Church on Monday night, only Nettles answered questions.

Moderators, other candidates and community members made multiple comments on Monday night about how some candidates decided not to participate.

Jackson was present for a short time, watching from the back of the room. A third candidate in the District 8 race, Arthur McCoy, was also absent. 

Arthur McCoy

At one point, Jackson walked over to where the other candidates were sitting, sat down momentarily, but then left.

The Q&A continued as normal as the organizers claimed Jackson couldn't stay because she did not RSVP. Jackson disagreed, claiming she verbally confirmed she would be there over the phone.

The backstory:

Just four days ago, the candidate forum was overshadowed by a confrontation.

A physical scuffle broke out between Jackson and Councilman Nettles. 

Jackson, who was a former member of Nettles' campaign staff, approached Councilman Nettles and placed a physical copy of a lawsuit she filed against him.

Then, the two had to be separated and both filed police reports on each other soon after.

What they're saying:

Councilman Nettles reassured everyone that the race would continue as normal despite last week's incident. 

"I have full faith that this race has integrity and is correct," said Nettles.

Chris Nettles

Jackson believes she has been treated unfairly as a result of last week's incident.

"Within the last 4 days, I adopted the villain role simply because I was serving Nettles a lawsuit for colluding with my landlord," said Jackson.

McCoy tells FOX 4 he's still frustrated by Thursday’s incident. He sent a video statement to FOX 4.

"It upset me to really see how the community was disconnected and not together, so I prayed about it and I said you know what, you are pretty much done with going to forums," said McCoy.

What's next:

FOX 4 asked both Councilman Nettles and Payton Jackson if there was any update on the police reports filed about the incident last week.

Both said they hope the reports are completed sometime this week.