Rodeo fires back at red state judge's 'manhandled' allegations with detailed timeline

The executive of Harris County, Texas, has claimed she was "manhandled" by staff at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, posting audio of the event in which she can be heard complaining and staff ordering her to leave.

But Judge Lina Hidalgo's account of what happened has been disputed by the event officials, who put out a statement on Thursday saying she ignored clear rules to try to crash an event she had no access to, and no excessive force was used against her.

"Judge Lina Hidalgo has attended the 2026 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo on three occasions prior to March 10, each time with wristbands provided by the Rodeo for her and her guests to watch from the chute seats. In total, 21 tickets were provided to her across those visits, including for the J Balvin, Forrest Frank and Luke Bryan concerts with a total value of close to $9,000," said the statement.

"On March 10 we received information that the Judge wanted to attend the Megan Moroney concert, along with Creed, Chris Stapleton and Shaboozey concerts, all on the dirt," the statement continued. "Because the Megan Moroney concert was sold out and she'd already had chute seats several times prior, we had multiple conversations with members of her team and the Houston County Sports and Convention Corporation informing them that she did not have wristbands and was not authorized to access the dirt or chute area that evening. She was aware of this prior to arriving and did not have the required wristbands to enter the area."

"Despite that, Judge Hidalgo attempted to access the dirt area with guests who also did not have credentials or wristbands," the statement continued. "She did have access to suite tickets that evening and was asked to return to her suite where she and her guests had tickets for the event. Our team respectfully addressed the situation, but the interaction became difficult for staff and security. There were numerous law enforcement officers who were present and none saw any physical harm including 'manhandling'. Ultimately when she would not go back to her designated seats in the suite, she was escorted out."

The statement concluded by saying, "We are very disappointed in Judge Hidalgo's actions," and praising staff for handling the situation professionally.

Hidalgo, who has been county judge since 2019 and is not seeking re-election this year, has faced drama and scandal in recent years. In 2022, members of her staff were indicted over misconduct in COVID vaccine contract awards. And last October, she faced scrutiny after she blew off a major county budget meeting to go to a Hans Zimmer concert.