On January 19, 2018, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported the following: "Jason Smith, a Fort Worth trial lawyer who primarily represents victims of employment discrimination, started a petition on Jan. 5 to get the [Confederate veterans] monument outside the Tarrant County Courthouse removed. He said he decided to start the petition after he represented a black client last year whose case was heard at the Tarrant County Courthouse and who was bothered by having to pass the monument on his way inside the building." “People shouldn’t have to walk by a monument honoring people who took up arms against our country to defend slavery in order to access a building that promises justice for all, Smith said." "Smith worked for the state for nearly three years, as a briefing attorney for a state Supreme Court judge and as an assistant Texas attorney general, and made it a point to work on Confederate Heroes Day, taking off LBJ’s birthday instead, 'because he signed the Civil Rights Act,' Smith said." While it remains essential to get a monuments protection act passed at state level, supporters should urgently start their own petitions demanding monument protection laws for Fort Worth, Tarrant County and other local jurisdictions. If we don't act now, the veterans monument outside the Tarrant County Courthouse will soon be gone like all the rest...