Harris County judge claims manhandling at rodeo; officials cite $9k in freebies
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A Texas judge said she was manhandled while attending a concert at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo this week after staff refused to let her into the VIP area and escorted her out of the venue, questioning whether she was the victim of racism or sexism, even though she was given $9,000 worth of free gifts.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said she and five guests — another elected official, the official’s children and the parents of a recently deceased U.S. Air Force sergeant — attended a Megan Moroney concert at the popular rodeo on Tuesday.
But in response to Fox News Digital’s request for comment, the rodeo said the group was banned from the venue’s premium floor access area — the parachute ticket area known as “dirt” — because they failed to pay the $425 per person price tag for wristbands and the show was sold out.
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Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo (center) is flanked by Houston Police Chief Troy Finner (left) and U.S. Representative Al Green (right). (AP Photo/Michael Wyke, File)
Hildalgo said he had previously been allowed into the floor access area without a wristband “because of the area’s association with the rodeo.” He said he assumed the area was “friends of rodeo leaders or rodeo leaders.”
He then asked if his guests would be allowed into the area before he was grabbed, pushed and threatened with arrest, the judge said.
“I understand that the rodeo committee members have a job to do,” Hidalgo wrote in a scathing letter to rodeo board chair Pat Phillips and rodeo chairman Chris Boleman. “They are trying to keep thousands of people safe during the world’s largest rodeo. I didn’t want to hinder the committee members from doing their jobs, nor was I trying to take advantage of ‘perks’ or solicit favors. I wasn’t even interested in watching the concert. I was only interested in helping community members enjoy an important event.”
Rodeo officials said Hidalgo was asked several times to return to his previous county office. He was then asked to leave and was escorted out of the venue.
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Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo released short clips of herself being escorted from a concert venue at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo this week. Hidalgo said he was beaten and threatened with arrest while attending a concert at the popular rodeo. (Getty Images; Lina Hidalgo Facebook)
“There were numerous law enforcement officers present and none suffered any physical harm, including ‘fooling around,’” Phillips and Boleman said in a joint letter addressing the issue. “Eventually, when they did not return to their designated seat in the suite, they were escorted out.”
Rodeo officials said Hidalgo requested and was given $9,000 floor pass tickets for himself and his guests for the three previous nights for concerts where he would see J Balvin, Dwight Yoakam and Luke Bryan.
“We are extremely disappointed in Judge Hidalgo’s actions Tuesday night and since,” Phillips and Boleman said. “But we must enforce the same access policies for everyone. Judge is the only elected official who demands, if not demands, these seats every night. As Chairman of the Board, the idea that she is treated this way because she is a woman or of Hispanic descent is simply wrong and insulting.”
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Shelby Pierson carries an American flag while playing the national anthem before Super Series I Round 1 at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Houston at NRG Park on Monday, March 2, 2026 in Houston. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images) (Getty Images)
The judge said in a letter to Phillips and Boleman on Wednesday that he “never admitted to anything improper or used my role to personally enrich myself, even though many others have done so.”
She further questioned the treatment she would receive if she had “a male district manager,” before claiming that white men “feel emboldened to treat others, especially Hispanics, with physical force.”
“I no longer travel without my passport,” he wrote. “Many of us do, especially those of us who don’t pass white.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Hidalgo.
The Houston Police Officers Association posted an image on its Facebook page showing a law enforcement officer escorting a woman by the arm as she said, “I’m a District Judge.” The union said the image was satire.
On his Facebook and Instagram pages, Hidalgo shared videos of him leaving the concert venue from his vantage point, as well as audio recordings with rodeo staff.
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“This isn’t about a wristband or a ticket or a concert,” he said. “It’s about the mentality of some people and how they treat others.”
“If that’s how they treat me — in my position as the Rodeo Former Director, the landlord, because the NRG stadium is owned by Harris County and leased to the rodeo — how do they treat everyone else?” he added.
Hidalgo, a Harris County judge, serves as chief executive and chairman of the County’s governing body, Commissioners Court, and oversees a budget of more than $4 billion.
