Harris Co. Judge Lina Hidalgo posts recordings from night of Houston rodeo incident

Judge Hidalgo posts videos in response to Houston rodeo incident

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo posted four videos in response to the Houston rodeo incident after reports she tried to sit in a premium seat that she didn’t have a ticket for during Tuesday night’s rodeo concert. Jade Flury has more on the story.

HOUSTON - Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo posted video and audio recordings from the Tuesday night incident at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo after she was reportedly escorted out of the concert.

Hidalgo shared the two videos and two recordings to her Facebook and Instagram account. In her caption, Hidalgo claims, "This is not about a wristband or a ticket or a concert. It is about the mentality of some people and the way they treat others."

Harris County judge responds to rodeo incident

What they're saying:

Hidalgo writes in the description of the four videos, in part:

Lina Hidalgo posts videos from Houston rodeo incident: Part 1

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo posted videos to Facebook of an incident at the Houston rodeo on Tuesday night. She says this recording is when "several men from the rodeo" were escorting her out of the stadium.

Lina Hidalgo posts videos from Houston rodeo incident: Part 2

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo posted videos to Facebook from an incident she was involved in at the rodeo on Tuesday night. In this recording, she says she is speaking with Chris Boleman, President and CEO of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

Here are the receipts. I’m adding two videos and two recordings to Instagram. This is not about a wristband or a ticket or a concert. It is about the mentality of some people and the way they treat others.

Please look at the post also where I have the letter I sent to the chairman and to the director of the rodeo. Since I sent that letter, I learned that not only did they pull the two children that came with me out of their assigned seats during their favorite song, as they asked to stay, but they also pulled my other two guests— the parents of U.S. Airforce First Sargeant David Saravia who died January 31 at 29 years old. They are also the parents of an active duty military member. This was the first event the parents had attended since First Sargeant Saravia’s death. They went and found them in the dirt and yanked them out before the show ended. This was all against my request.

I have requested the security footage of everything that transpired last night, from every angle, of any time I was in or near the chute, of when they pulled the little kids out of the suite, of when they escorted me out of Harris County Stadium. I was promised the footage in the morning tomorrow Thursday. I hope it is provided, without funny business in terms of missing or blocked angles or important time stamps.

This recording is of when several men from the rodeo were escorting me out of the Harris County Stadium. And I was pleading with them not to pull the children out, which they ultimately had happen.

If this is how they treat me — by virtue of my position the Ex-Officio Director of the rodeo, landlord, because NRG stadium belongs to Harris County and leases to the rodeo, how do they treat everybody else?

Lina Hidalgo posts videos from Houston rodeo incident: Part 3 & 4

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo posted videos to Facebook from an incident she was involved in at the rodeo on Tuesday night. She recording these videos after she says she was escorted out of the stadium against her wishes.

RODEOHOUSTON's statement to the incident

The other side:

After seeing rumors circulate online of the incident at Tuesday night's Megan Moroney concert, FOX 26 reached out to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

In a statement, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo said: "On March 10, during the sold-out Megan Moroney concert, Judge Lina Hidalgo attempted to access the dirt area without a valid chute seat ticket. Additionally, she attempted to bring several guests, also without chute seat tickets. Rodeo security advised that dirt access is limited to chute seat ticket holders only, a premium ticket priced at $425 and the group was directed back to their ticketed seating."

Online criticism to incident

The Houston Police Officers’ Union posted an illustration they dubbed "satire" showing a woman, resembling the county judge, being escorted by the arm by a law enforcement officer as she says, "I’m the County Judge".

The union captioned the post, "Disclaimer: Satire. Any resemblance to real persons, actual events from last night, elected officials, or people who believe the rules don’t apply to them is purely coincidental. #HarrisCountyDeservesBetter #YouCantSitThere"

Lina Hidalgo's shares letter

Judge Hidalgo posted her letter on Wednesday to RODEOHOUSTON leadership about the matter on social media.

In summary, the county judge said she had previously been allowed on the dirt without a wristband "based on the county's relationship with the rodeo." 

The county judge says she was at the concert with another elected official, the official's children, and the parents of a US Air Force sergeant who recently passed away.

She claimed she was shoved by rodeo committee members to leave the dirt, and the other official and her kids were removed.