County officials dropped a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge against Big Bend Times publisher David Flash this month — but two older, equally controversial charges remain pending.
The dismissed charge stemmed from a June 27 commissioners court meeting where Flash was violently detained by sheriff’s deputies while covering the public event. Flash was grabbed, handcuffed, and physically removed from the room after taking a photo of a deputy. Video of the incident went viral, sparking criticism from First Amendment experts and coverage from statewide and national media.
Flash says the county backed off the charge only after media attention made it untenable.
“They couldn’t get traction on the disorderly charge because it was on video,” Flash said. “So now they’re sticking with charges that didn’t get the same exposure. But they’re just as baseless.”
Two charges remain: a Class B misdemeanor harassment charge filed quietly in 2024, and a Class C traffic citation for “failure to maintain a single lane.” Flash says both are based on false allegations — part of a broader pattern by county officials to intimidate him and suppress reporting.
The harassment charge was filed last year but only became public months later, when Flash began referencing it in public records filings and media coverage. The Texas Office of the Attorney General declined to prosecute a separate charge of “terroristic threat” over the same alleged conduct, and Flash says the remaining charge is built on similar lies.
“They used those older charges to ban me from county buildings for nearly a year under threat of arrest,” Flash said. “A judge finally ruled that ban illegal in mid-2025. The first time I was able to attend a meeting without facing arrest — they assaulted and detained me.”
That court ruling came via writ of habeas corpus in county court, where a visiting judge substituted for County Judge Curtis Evans, who was recused.
Following the June 27 incident, Evans gave an interview to the Big Bend Sentinel in which he dismissed Flash as “crazy” and “not suitable for public settings.” He suggested that more charges could follow, noting that Texas law allows two years to file charges for disrupting a meeting — a charge the county has never pursued.
Flash says that kind of rhetoric shows the county is seeking justification to punish his reporting, not enforcing any legitimate law.
“The citation they dropped was issued the same day as the incident,” Flash said. “I was assaulted, and they charged me with disorderly conduct — something there’s no evidence I did. Now they’re holding onto these other bogus charges that didn’t get as much scrutiny.”
Flash, a trained journalist who holds a master’s degree in digital audience strategy from Arizona State University, founded the Big Bend Times in 2020 to report on issues in the vast, underserved Big Bend region. His outlet has since become the largest by audience in the area, often drawing the ire of officials who preferred less public oversight.
He says the pattern is clear: Jeff Davis County has repeatedly used legal threats, physical force, and bogus criminal charges in an attempt to silence him.
“I’ve been to all 50 states and 66 countries,” Flash said. “And the only place where I seem to be a serial criminal is Jeff Davis County.”
