10 February 16-22, 2023 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents vertically and horizontally throughout the home, leaving behind significant damage,” Evans said. “After interviews with occu- pants and witnesses, in addition to docu- menting evidence within the remnants, fire investigators were unable to rule out multi- ple possible ignition sources. Therefore, the cause of the fire is listed as undetermined.” Swann doesn’t believe the fires were in- tentionally set. Either way, historic pieces of the neighborhood have been destroyed. That’s nothing new for the Tenth Street His- toric District, Swann said. “People, when they talk about why Tenth Street matters, why it’s significant, they point to its degree of intactness,” Swann said. “During all that time when they’ve been touting the intactness of Tenth Street as to why it matters, houses have been de- molished and a lot of the demolitions were city-initiated and city-sponsored.” In 2019, Legal Aid of Northwest Texas and the Tenth Street Residential Association sued the city, claiming it was demolishing homes in the neighborhood at a disproportionate rate, according to Oak Cliff Advocate. Between 1993, when Dallas designated the area a historic dis- trict, and 2017, the city demolished at least 72 houses in Tenth Street, the suit claimed. “The City has not demolished houses at this rate or magnitude in any historic district that preserves white history,” the suit said. It also said the infrastructure in Tenth Street, like the roads, sewage and storm drainage, has been neglected by the city when compared with other historic districts. “I think it is foolish to let the significance of the Tenth Street Freedman’s Town rest upon its degree of intactness because that degree of intactness has been constantly eroded by fires, by demolitions, by neglect, by all of these things,” he said. One day soon, Swann and Johnson hope to see a change. “So often something like this happens and it’s just more bad news for Tenth Street,” Swann said. “It is true that Tenth Street faces a lot of challenges, but Tenth Street also presents great opportunities to the city of Dallas.” Swann said the city can take advantage of these opportunities only if it preserves the history of the neighborhood. ▼ SPORTS CONSPIRACY KYRIE KYRIE IRVING IS A DALLAS MAVERICK NOW. NOT EVERYONE IS HAPPY ABOUT THAT. BY SIMONE CARTER T he word “mercurial” comes up a lot when the subject is Kyrie Irving, the former Brooklyn Nets point guard who was just acquired by the Dallas Maver- icks. Optimists herald the 30-year-old bas- ketball star as the team’s savior, but cynics say that he’s more like a harbinger of doom. Even if you’re not a big sports buff, you’ve likely heard of Irving before. His reputation off the court is controversial, to say the least. Irving came under fire late last year, around the time of the months-long self-im- molation of hip-hop icon Kanye West, who plummeted from grace after issuing a series of virulently antisemitic statements. In October, Irving shared a tweet pro- moting a 2018 movie that features antise- mitic themes, Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America, which was based on a book of the same name. He eventually apologized on social media — after getting slapped with a suspension by the Nets — but Sports Illus- trated notes that he didn’t exactly extend that contrition in person. In another twist to the ordeal: Irving has apparently since deleted the social media post in which he said he was “deeply sorry” to Jewish people. Asked why, he replied: “I delete things all the time, and it’s no disre- spect to anyone within the community. Just living my life.” Before that development had even come to light, at least one Jewish advocacy organi- zation decried Irving’s acquisition. StopAntisemitism told the Observer via email that they were “disappointed” the NBA didn’t do more to make things right after Ir- ving promoted antisemitic misinformation. Executive Director Liora Rez said that pro athletes enjoy enormous influence and should take such sway seriously. The resulting damage to the Jewish com- munity “cannot be undone,” she said. “With this trade to the Dallas Mavericks, Irving is now playing for a team which is owned by Mark Cuban, a proud Jew,” Rez continued. “We hope that Cuban takes this opportunity to educate not just Irving but the entire franchise about the many forms that Jew-hatred takes, including Holocaust denial. Together, Cuban and Irving could truly have a positive impact in the fight against antisemitism.” Some Dallasites, incidentally, have noted the close proximity of the Mavs’ home arena to the Dallas Holocaust Museum. In the past, Irving has sparked outrage for his stance on vaccine mandates amid the pandemic (anti-) and for his thoughts on the shape of the earth (flat). He also once ap- peared to cast doubt on what he believes are inaccurate renderings of dinosaurs. Jake Kemp, the co-host of The Hang Zone on 1310 The Ticket, who also writes about the Mavs for D Magazine, made it clear that he doesn’t want to “alibi for a guy who has said many, many dumb things.” The former Net is a wickedly talented player — when he’s actually on the court. This issue is that the star has missed a ton of playing time due to injury and his refusal to get the COVID jab, the latter of which led him to missing out on home games because of New York City’s then-mandate. Kemp explained that the Mavericks previ- ously made a trade for another player, Kri- staps Porziņģis, which didn’t exactly work out. That contributed to the team having lim- ited avenues to improve its roster, so when this path presented itself, he said, “it was kind of the best bad option.”Irving’s reputation is likely far more negative among media mem- bers than the players themselves, Kemp said. The acquisition is sure to make at least some of his team happy, namely Luka Dončić, who has had to shoulder the team’s scoring bur- den virtually all season long. “It’s just that all of his nonsense aside, Kyrie Irving is an awesome basketball player,” Kemp said. Some NBA titans have called out Irving before, though. Points-GOAT LeBron James, for in- stance, put him on blast following the afore- mentioned antisemitic-film-tweet, Kemp said. But that heat gradually cooled. The bottom line is that sports fans just want their team to win games, Kemp contin- ued. That said, Irving’s standing among Nets fans likely suffered because of his sideline stints, and he “also basically got two coaches fired” with the team, including former Mav Steve Nash. “My guess is that Nets fans are just tired of him,” Kemp added, “and my guess is that Mavericks fans will be in time.” ▼ CRIME CAPITOL RIOT, TEXAS STYLE ANOTHER NORTH TEXAS MAN ARRESTED FOR ROLE IN JAN. 6 ATTACK. BY KELLY DEARMORE S top us if you’ve heard this one before: a North Texas man has been arrested for his involvement in the events at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Jason Farris, 44, of Arlington, faces nu- merous charges including assaulting, resist- ing or impeding officers; obstructing, impeding or interfering with officers during a civil disorder; and physical violence in a restricted building or grounds. Court docu- ments also list Farris as being from Frisco. “According to court documents, on Jan. 6, 2021, Farris was at the front of a mob on the North side of the Lower West Plaza of the Capitol, a location that was restricted from lawful public access,” a statement from the United States Attorney District of Columbia noted. “Police officers at this location had set up metal bicycle racks as a barricade to pre- vent rioters from advancing further into the Capitol. At approximately 2:15 p.m., Farris stated to the police officers, among other things: ‘I bet your family is proud of you, fuck- ing faggot ass. You ain’t shit. Ain’t none of you shit.’ As he said this, Farris hit the baton held by one of the police officers with his hand.” Farris is the latest in a seemingly ever- growing list of people from North Texas being punished for their actions at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Following a rally with then- President Donald Trump, thousands of people forced their way into the building and dis- rupted the Congressional session set to certify Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election victory. More than 130 officers were injured dur- ing the attack and a protester, Ashli Babbitt, was shot and killed by an officer as she forced her way through a glass window. Since the at- tack, some of the highest-profile rioters have been identified as having North Texas ties. This should come as no surprise, as a year af- ter the Capitol attack, Texas was home to the second-most alleged Capitol rioters. Frisco realtor Jenna Ryan, she of the in- famously boastful private plane pics, has gone through the entire cycle of an identi- fied Jan. 6 rioter. She’s been arrested, tried, jailed and released, all before 2022 was a couple months old. Elmer Stewart Rhodes of Granbury was convicted in Nov. 2022 of seditious conspiracy, among other charges. Rhodes is the founder of the Oath Keepers, a militia group that planned violent mea- sures for Jan. 6 designed to keep Trump in office. According to the statement of facts for Farris’ case, his actions were caught by cam- eras on the scene. “The videos depicted Far- ris violently shoving an U.S. Capitol Police Officer to the ground while that officer was attempting to maintain a police line protect- ing the Capitol,” the statement of facts read. The statement also noted that Farris was outed by a tipster who had heard Farris talk about his trip to Washington D.C. on Jan. 6. The Department of Justice says that nearly 1,000 individuals have been arrested in connection with the Jan. 6 attack. The in- vestigation into Farris’ involvement is still ongoing, authorities say. ▼ CANNABIS FAT CHANCE DALLAS COULD LEGALIZE RECREATIONAL CANNABIS USE UNDER NEW HOUSE BILL. BY JACOB VAUGHN R ep. Jessica González, a Dallas Demo- crat, filed a bill last week that would allow counties and cities to Emilee Chinn/Getty Images Kyrie Irving has joined the Mavericks, coming from the Brooklyn Nets. Unfair Park from p8 >> p12
