Fort Worth council candidate who yelled profanity after a forum has left the race

A Fort Worth City Council candidate has dropped out of the race after facing criticism for aggressive behavior that included yelling profanity at other candidates after a public forum.

Darien George, running in District 9, lashed out at opponent Jordan Mims following the Near Southside forum Monday night, calling Mims a vulgar term for human excrement and yelling at other candidates, according to multiple people in the room.

After the Star-Telegram inquired about the incident, George said in an email Tuesday night he had decided to leave the race, saying he had faced attacks.

The outburst at the forum was the latest in a series of incidents involving George that includes posts on social media claiming the candidate had been aggressive with residents unwilling to support his campaign. But George, in the email, said he was the one under attack through “whisper campaigns, smears, and at the lowest point, someone drove by and shot out the windows on our car and home in the middle of the night.”

At the Near Southside forum Monday night, which was broadcast on Facebook with limited attendance in person, Mims began his introduction by calling on George to drop out, citing aggressive behavior and calling his opponent “an abuser.” George did not respond to Mims during the forum.

“I do believe he’s unfit for this gig,” Mims told the Star-Telegram. “I wanted to make sure that was on the record, how I felt.”

Mims said George became angry almost immediately after the broadcast ended and mics were turned off. George stood up and yelled a profanity at Mims, he said.

The outburst prompted Elizabeth Beck, another candidate, to move between Mims and George, who was advancing “very, very aggressively,” she said. George began berating both of them, said Fernando Peralta, another candidate on stage who also intervened.

“We all heard it,” Peralta said. “He yelled it at him.”

Beck and Peralta joined Mims in saying George should leave the race for District 9, which has nine candidates.

Beck, who last year ran for the Texas House, called George’s behavior at the forum “very alarming” and said his face was filled with “anger and rage.” Noting the council candidates often face criticism publicly from upset residents, she said the office would require a cool temperament.

“If you don’t have grace under fire then you’re not fit to serve,” Beck said.

Two others in the room confirmed to the Star-Telegram that they heard George yelling at Mims.

George’s decision to drop out came after the Star-Telegram asked him about the confrontation. In a brief phone call he said he didn’t have time to talk and would schedule an interview via email. Instead, he said in a statement he had talked to his family and decided to leave the race.

“I will defend my reputation against these false accusations through the legal system, but for the safety and emotional health of my family I will not subject them to these disgusting attacks,” he wrote.

George attached two screenshots of emails that featured profanity in messages urging him to drop out. Both appeared to be mocking the vulgar phrase people heard him yell at Mims.

The Near Southside forum was not the first time George faced criticism for his behavior.

George was arrested in late 2000 after pointing a gun at another person, according to Tarrant County court documents. He was charged with unlawful carrying of a weapon and faced 12 months’ probation, according to court records, before the case was dismissed in 2002.

“I was extremely young and took responsibility for my actions,” George wrote in a Star-Telegram questionnaire.

George has faced accusations of aggressive and harassing behavior, including as he campaigned around District 9.

A resident of the Bluebonnet Hills neighborhood wrote on the social networking site Nextdoor that George had become “belligerent” after the resident asked George to remove a campaign flier he had put on the man’s door. In the comments, George first said it wasn’t him, but when the resident said he had doorbell camera footage of the exchange, George apologized.

“I would never intentionally try and make someone feel that way,” George wrote in the Nextdoor post. “If you felt that I was rude or belligerent, then know I’m sorry.”