4 December 4 - 10, 2025 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents A Man on Fire ‘Citizen journalist’ and City Hall gadfly Damien LeVeck says he’s both Batman and The Joker. His targets think he’s half right. BY EMMA RUBY W hen Damien LeVeck’s name is called as the next public speaker at the Nov. 12 Dallas City Council meeting, he takes his time. He slowly raises the lectern in front of the council horseshoe to accom- modate his height and places a camera on a tripod on the desk to capture his remarks. His uniform consists of a blazer, a fedora- style hat and a badge that reads “MEDIA,” bearing his black-and-white profile photo from his X account, which he uses to post commentary on City Hall. He casually crosses his legs at the ankles as he observes the horseshoe, noting which council members are failing to meet his eye, are talking among themselves or have walked away. “Mr. Mayor, if I could please have the at- tention of the full council?” He asks before making his remarks. “They are very rudely speaking through mine and other people’s speeches.” He clears his throat and, when somewhat satisfied, launches into a dramatic reading of a Dallas Morning News editorial headlined “Dal- las hired more cops, and the sky didn’t fall.” The final sentences of the article take him a few seconds over the three-minute limit given to each speaker, and he finishes with a quick “thank you” before brushing past the security officer who has begun to approach him. LeVeck, 43, is not The Dallas Morning News’ biggest fan, but he has an apprecia- tion for just about anything that criticizes City Council melodrama or calls out general dysfunction at City Hall. After speaking at the meeting’s morning session, he will hang around for another 11 hours until his next chance to speak, where he will lambaste the council for what he sees as mismanagement of city resources during a discussion on City Hall’s future. “When I’m there with my camera, the tone and behavior of the council members changes. … They’re more careful about what they say,” LeVeck said. “I’ve gone really hard on some of them.” Since early 2024, LeVeck has used the so- cial media platform X to post videos and self-described “spicy memes” about Dallas’ leadership on the account @dallasenfuego. He has coined nicknames for council mem- bers he finds most frustrating and has used everything from ethics complaints to artifi- cial intelligence to draw attention to what he believes is “incompetent” stewardship. He considers himself an “intransigent iconoclast” — one who stands opposed to city leadership’s continued adherence to the status quo — and would categorize his brand of comedic political content alongside that of Bill Maher and John Oliver, albeit with less funding and fewer fans. He also took over as executive director of Dallas HERO, the organization that, in Feb- ruary, helped pass City Charter amend- ments requiring the city to hire more police officers and paving the way for residents to sue the city. He notes that while the mis- sions of @dallasenfuego and Dallas HERO are somewhat aligned, he considers his work on each operation to be independent of the other. During an interview, LeVeck declined to talk about Dallas HERO, citing the need to keep the endeavors separate to avoid the risk or perception of censorship. What he did say is that he believes the HERO organization has been “vindicated” in the year since propositions S and U passed, and he points out that, despite threats, the group has not brought a lawsuit against the city of Dallas. “I don’t think that’s going to be good for anybody. I would much prefer diplomacy with city leaders over that,” he said. But LeVeck hasn’t built a platform as a City Hall gadfly without earning some criti- cism of his own, and you’d be hard pressed to find a council member who’d describe his methods as diplomatic. Last year, he was accused of being homo- phobic after publishing a video that criti- cized council member Chad West for spending campaign funds at a gay bar Kathy Tran; Adobe Stock | UNFAIR PARK | Damien LeVeck keeps his City Hall coverage spicy. >> p6
