- Brad Hawkins worked as a reporter and anchor for WFAA from 2000 until 2008, when he joined Southwest Airlines.
Former WFAA anchor Brad Hawkins, now a spokesman for Southwest Airlines, was arrested Monday on a charge of public lewdness after an incident at Flag Pole Hill Park, The Dallas Morning News reports. We’ve posted the full police report here. As best I can tell, the 37-year-old Hawkins has been out as gay for at least a few years, which raises the obvious question: What in the hell was he thinking? Anyhow, I’ve contacted Hawkins’ attorney, Pete Schulte, who told me via text message that he’ll be in court and unavailable all day. Here’s what Schulte told The Dallas Morning News: “We believe that Mr. Hawkins is not guilty, and we ask that public opinion be withheld until the facts are known.” Unfortunately, I’m afraid it’s a little late for public opinion to be withheld. The first three gay people I saw this morning asked me, “Hey, did you hear about Brad Hawkins?” Well aren’t we a gossipy bunch? But my other question here is, why is this newsworthy for The Dallas Morning News? Would they treat a straight person being arrested on a class-A misdemeanor charge the same way? I also have concerns about the arrest itself, but I’m told we’re never going to win this argument. Hawkins was arrested after he pressed an undercover officer’s hand, over the clothing, against his erect penis, according to the report. When the officer pulled his hand away, Hawkins said, “Sorry, I just wanted you to know how horney (SIC) you made me, and I wanted to feel your hand so later when I blow I have a thought to go by.” Hawkins then allegedly invited the undercover officer to meet him at his house for sex. Hawkins got on his bicycle and rode away, but police came to his house later and arrested him. Sexual contact, even when it’s over the clothing, has been interpreted as public lewdness by Texas courts. Here’s the definition of public lewdness under the penal code:
§ 21.07 PUBLIC LEWDNESS. (a) A person commits an offense if he knowingly engages in any of the following acts in a public place or, if not in a public place, he is reckless about whether another is present who will be offended or alarmed by his:
(1) act of sexual intercourse;
(2) act of deviate sexual intercourse;
(3) act of sexual contact; or
(4) act involving contact between the person’s mouth or genitals and the anus or genitals of an animal or fowl.
Why do people persist in cruising the park? I have never understood this behavior. Guess I must just be a an old fuddy dud, but I always thought cruising worked better in bars and bathhouses.
No wonder I can’t get a date.
Apparently, half the guys are undercover cops and the others are too busy cruising the park.
But this whole thing seems to me to be homo-harrassment.
What is missing from the story is that the cop whacked off after feeling Hawkin’s hot erection. Then busted him.
What sort of closet case pigs volunteer for this type of work?
While you tag DMN for posting the story – you further the public spectical for Mr. Watson by posting his Police Report in such a public way
You should be ashamed of your own outing policies
Don’t throw stones if you are not prepared to stand behind it with RESPONSIBLE reporting vs. sensationalizing news
For all those taking folly in this – what if this were YOUR life splashed across the pages???? And don’t preach boys – you know many of us have something that could end up here, tomorrow!
Where do i sign up to be the undercover officer? Getting paid for cruising the parks and grabbing crotches? What a gig!
Kia, the Dallas Police Department will be recruiting at the LGBT Job Expo at SMU this Wednesday. you can sign up there.
Well, more news for you Hardy Harberman they will get you in a bar or bathhouse now. You can’t do anything anymore without everyone jumping to conclusions. If this guy was an undercover officer and If Brad indeed took the officers hand and placed it over his pants, why didn’t the officer arrest him then! Why wait. Sounds like to me Mr. Hawkins may have flirted with the officer and he didn’t like it, because he was not gay. Later he discovered that this was Brad Hawkins former WFAA anchor and saw away to destroy him. This is guy bashing at its worst. I bet if a beautiful woman jogging around stopped and talk with the officer for a while and did the samething we wouldn’t even hear about it. There will come a day when asking someone out in public will be public lewdness.
I am sorry Brad encountered this police harrassment that is continuing to plague our city. While Brad had no business soliciting in the park (if that was the case), the Dallas Police need to be focused on real crimes rather than harrassing gay men in parks, bars, bathhouses and adult bookstores.
You never see straight guys getting arrested for feeling up titty dancers and all of the topless clubs in Dallas. I am sick and tired of this treatment and it’s time for mass demonstrations by the gay community to stop this type of harrassment by the Dallas Police department.
Lets start organizing now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
John,
I would point out that you did not redact Mr. Hawkins home address from the report. Not a good idea to publish a police report with his personal address on it unless you are looking for some sort of lawsuit from him. If people are that interested in getting his home address, then let them get the unredacted public record from the police.
regards
Donald
I have to agree with UnFairJustice. If Mr. Hawkins was to be arrested, it should have been right then and there, not a few hours later at his home. Doesn’t the Dallas Police Dept. have anything more important to do, like looking for murderers and thieves, rather than cruising the parks? For Heavens sake, leave these people alone! The officer should have considered it a compliment.
Public lewdness seems more like a technicality in this case. It’s not like Mr. Hawkins was pulling it out in a public bathroom. The undercover cop was engaged in a sexual conversation with him and obviously provoking him to get aroused. I think he should fight this.
Wow, sorry to hear this.
So let me get this right — the police followed him home to arrest him (according to the police report) at 9:30PM.
So apparently he was in the park at ~9:00PM, walking up the hill with his bike, was then followed and approached by an undercover cop who engaged him in conversation. (The report fails to include what the cop actually said to Brad.)
Assuming the incident report is 100% accurate (a huge leap of faith), Brad initiated physical contact with this stranger (in the form of a lewd handshake), then propositioned him — with absolutely no encouragement from the officer. Hmm.
The report goes on to say that Brad was “…reckless whether another person present would be offended or alarmed by his act..”
In my part of town, it’s pretty dark at 9:00PM.
Something doesn’t smell right.
@Donald: The defendant’s address is a public record, which is why it wasn’t redacted by police. After receiving a call from Mr. Hawkins, we blacked out his address and phone number on the report we posted as a courtesy to him.
Wright – that is a MAJOR cop out (pun fully intended). It’s public record IF you go to the trouble of FINDING it.
Pushing it out to the public and potentially increasing the risk of safety, not to mention what is already certain a high level of embarrassment, was irreprehensible on the part of the Dallas Voice.
What happened to integrity in reporting? You can do so and NOT cross the line!
Cathy – they waited because they wanted a marked police car to increase the attention and embarrassment to Mr. Hawkins
Sad News – you way is the ONLY way we will really affect change- History has proven it
@MarkT:
On the contrary, without the police narrative, it would be impossible for the public to look at it and say, “This is total bullshit!”
On a personal note I am very sorry about Brad Hawkins being arrested. As a result of Thursdays Dallas Morning News report about this non-event to the mass public I have canceled my subscription to the paper. Now I am anxious to see what position Southwest Airlines takes. I am ready to boycott that organization also. Hopefully some one at Southwest Airlines stops and thinks about their many gay and lesbians employees. If he gets fired I will be forced to drive. Has been many years since I have marched in a protest movement but will gladly do so again. I think I will go to North Park tonight and maybe I won’t be robbed nor shot. Where are the police when u need them? Apparently at Flag Pole Hill hiding in the bushes.
“Gay” and “cruising” go hand in hand. Homo-normalacy. Suck it up hets.
Really does make sense. The DPD did it to me as well and I was not guilty so I can tell you the posts are accurate. The night I got mine there was a straight couple doing the duty at a place called California crossing in NW Dallas right out on the ground was around 9:00PM. You could see them fortunately no kids are there as it is out in the middle of nowhere. A cop car pulled in and shined his spotlight on them and told them to get up and dressed and to live immediately. They did just that. I was out with a hairdresser friend. i had gone to check on him and I had tripped over a short stump and struck a person around the side leg area trying to break the fall. I wasnt even near the crotch nor would i have wanted to. He was gross. i was questioned and released on a at large. They do not even warn you when the warrant is released. They sent three sherrifs deputies to my house agter midnight banging their metal flashlights on my glass door and a dispatcher calling and leaving rude messages which I still have to this day. Woke up all of my neighbors I am sure.The Judge Wyde in my case was a real jerk telling me I had better not end up in his court again. I paid my dues 80 hours comm service year probation sent to counselling with real pedophiles it was scary and threatened to be labeled a sex offender. I sold my home and moved to Arlington I heard a little while back Judge Wyde was removed due to some sexual or crooked something and I thought”he got his.. Brad I am very sorry this happened to you. If you and I had been females it wouldnt a happened. Dallas Police are crooked people have to have control issues to be cops.
I am confident Southwest Airlines will do the right thing. Brad has a very high reputation and I believe strongly that this was entrapment. Hey Dallas Police….go fight real crime…..not crotches…..
I live near White Rock Lake Park, have for most of my life. Even when I was a kid there were gays cruising parts of the park, night and day. They did not hesitate to approach boys as young as 11, myself and my friends included. Nowadays it’s less prevalent but many areas in the park are not safe for families.
Listen up folks: parks are not for gay sex. They’re for the enjoyment of nature and a place to relax, not get hit on. It’s fine if you’re gay, it’s fine if you’re straight, but either way don’t go to the park to get laid. The vast majority of straight people seem to understand this, many gays don’t.
If gays don’t want to be treated in a stereotypical manner then they shouldn’t act in a stereotypical manner. Figure it out.
Well since Chief Kunkle took office he increased police presence on dallas streets. Before that there weren`t enough police to patrol every area of the city, and this includes the parks. So if years ago you used to go crusing in the parks you really didn`t have to worry. Now it`s virtually imposible. It`s a big risk, one that i will no longer take. Man I miss the ole days.
I’m less concerned about what Brad Hawkins allegedly did and more concerned about the spelling issues in the police report…
I wonder how many times arrests like this occur over a weekend in Dallas? In Austin?
I do not see those stories being deemed as something noteworthy. Yet, here we are reading about a story that will prove to be nothing. I am sure a follow up article clearing him will be on p42.
As a straight guy, I could never imagine getting arrested. Bad choice, yes. Embarrassing, yes. Newsworthy, no.
I have thoughts on a few different aspects of this story…
First, STOP CRUISING PARKS!!! It’s illegal…damn, you’d think people would get that by now.
Second, it IS illegal for everyone, not just gay men. So, the Dallas police need to crack down on all the straighties feelin’ their *cough cough* girlfriends *cough cough* up in every public venue in town!! Let’s either enforce the ordinances equally and across the board or not at all.
Last, this is news because Brad is a person who has an extremely high profile in our area. That’s the world we live in…I don’t like it, but it is what it is. Go ahead and complain about this being made public and then go home tonight and watch TMZ, Access Hollywood or any of the myriad other entertainment “news” shows. It is out there to be consumed becuase WE have shown an apetite for it. Don’t like it? Stop watching those damn shows and it will go away.
I find it funny that the place is called Flagpole Hill. Hehe… Flagpole.
Let’s blame the State of Texasfor having laws….let’s blame the Dallas Police Department for enforcing those laws….let’s blame the media for reporting something people want to hear….let’s blame those same people for wanting to hear it….and let’s blame EVERYONE except the idiot who broke the law and got caught!
The officer followed HIM up the hill which would have indicated that he had some sort of interest in Mr. Hawkins. Who’s cruising whom?? They engaged in conversation. Conversation is a two-way act. The report doesn’t say who started the conversation, but if Mr. Hawkins was speaking to the officer in sexual terms, the officer surely was returning the favor and thus causing him to become aroused and provoking him to act on said arousal. Sounds like entrapment to me.
Known him for quite a long time now and never seen or heard anything from or about him that could be considered lewd. Doesn’t even sound like him, quite frankly. He’s a classy, well-mannered guy with a respectable reputation. He could get any guy or girl he wanted, so why would he cruise parks? I really wish our police would spend more time trying to address the true problems of the city instead of harassing people out enjoying an evening.
Known him for quite a long time now and never seen or heard anything from or about him that could be considered lewd. Doesn’t even sound like him, quite frankly. He’s a classy, well-mannered guy with a respectable reputation. He could get any guy or girl he wanted, so why would he cruise parks? I really wish our police would spend more time trying to address the true problems of the city instead of harassing people out enjoying an evening.
Brad… shock and guffawed that you would be that unaware of the arrests made there. Hello? Clue phone… it is for you Brad… How many stories did you cover about this exact issue while @ WFAA? Honestly…you are better and above all of this, but, after all, we are animals with hormones and, agree or disagree, within the phylum of homosapius. Hormones are not produced or prevented on command and that is why we cannot separate our species from others, and cannot control our front cranial temporal lobe which leads us to believe that we are in fact above all other species and that there is a God…
Irrespective, Dallas Police Dept. services in that neighborhood could be better served addressing the rates of home theft, grand theft auto, assault, domestic abuse, and that illegal activities related to gang and drug issues which happen every day on NW HWY by Flagpole Hill.
At the end of the day, It is my opinion that the means by which law enforcement agencies use to arrest “criminals” are all traps…Entrapment is embedded in the foundation of ‘making our streets safer’ i.e. using a rationale plagued with vague language and aggressive tactics to snare an innocent citizen. Who knows how one would react when followed by a athletic, brutesque undercover cop? Would you do what is necessary to get out of there without getting attacked, or worse? I think most would be worried, scared, or terrified if you were followed to a public restroom and asked or told things that were so unsettling and scary? I would do what I had to do to get out of there with as little harm as possible.
By the way, Hawkins doesn’t need to hit on a stranger in a restroom to get laid… That is what is the most amusing part of this whole ordeal they have put him through. Bucker up Brad…. you better get WFAA to rip the Dallas PD a new one… By the way…the folks in the Den of the Foxes are behind you.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. “If ALL of our lives were an open book, we’d all be much kinder and more forgiving to each other.” Let’s hope that we are as quick and thorough to forgive and move on as some of us are quick to judge.
gays very often rationalize their deviant behavior in public parks and attempt to justify by pointing to titty bars….private businesses. very different. we know what we’re getting into walking into a titty club. we shoulnd’t be subjected to blow jobs in a public park.
This is all the DPD has to do. Makes perfect sense. They can’t apprehend the REAL criminals, so the next best thing is to frame and/or entrap innocent victims. I bet you if a donut shop was robbed, they’d launch the most exhaustive search possible, and no one would stop until the suspect was apprehended and jailed.
I am sick to death over this. I am a big admirer of Brad’s and hope to God that his lawyer is so kick ass that he will tear that damn “report” apart and show this as clear entrapment. The words that are used as to what Brad supposedly said are so ridiculous…they wouldn’t even be good in some trashy sex novel. Nobody talks like that, except someone who makes things up to SOUND good, or like they think this is how someone might say it – so that it sounds juicy and convincing. I AM NOT CONVINCED!!!!
Brad is a spectacular man and the friend (Debbie, I think) that gave her comments about him further confirm that people love and respect him. I do believe that this “cop” fully realized who Brad was after the fact and even though they are supposed to “serve and protect”, they had to think for several hours to get it right… make it sound real…THEN, make it look like an episode of COPS and come down on him hard at his home. Whatever!! Who wants to display that trophy??
I hope that readers of this nonsense who have faith in Brad will stand together and demand that this be treated fairly in all respects. Nobody is gonna win in this situation….on the contrary, this is and HAS created a lot of grief already. Makes me puke!!
Got your back, Brad!!! Keep your spirits up!
Perhaps I’m getting more paranoid in my advancing age, but it appears that any single male in a park area can be suspected of “cruisisng” and targetted by police operatives for potential “bad behaviour”. Two males? Together, visiting, even MORE concern! No more peaceful walks in the park, enjoying nature as we allegedly have a right to do, lest we might be considered an easy target for “a sting” operation.
Public sexual activities in public parks has been a concern for many years, just that some PDs might choose to ignore it until somebody complains. Remember the news coverage of the White Rock Lake “trail” several years ago, with hidden camera footage, in broad daylight??
Last year, the FWPD did a park sting, catching straight married males in encounters with other males, in secluded areas near the train station. I guess the straight/married males found something in the park they couldn’t get at home, with all due respect?
Lewd conduct in bathhouses? A private club, admission fees required, that is same gender with open nudity in some areas? What a concept! Public gyms is one thing, private clubs are quite another! Private clubs probably classisfied as a “sexually-oriented business”, no less.
I concur, far too much normal crime to be worrying about public lewdness complaints — straight or gay — to the extent that has been exhibited.
Remedy?? Close the parks at sundown, patrol only for violations of that situation and not trolling for something else. If a couple is out in the grass, enjoying each other’s company by moonlight, then they’d need to leave, regardless of activity or sexual orientation. Singles? They’d better be out for an evening run or bike ride, not venturing off of the trail. How many families are usually in the park after sundown? Very FEW, IF any, so keeping the area safe for families, after sundown and park closing, should not be a real issue to send the vice squad out for. Let them be up on Harry Hines or other areas to make them safe to drive through at any hour.
Is Brad the son of Buddy Hawkins of Harligen I went to same High School in Harlingen?
I dated Brad when he lived in Tulsa in the late 1990’s and I would believe him over the Dallas Police any day . The DPD is a homophobic organization. That said, Brad is perhaps guilty of some bad judgment but that’s it. Glad SWA is standing by him.
I see the straight people screwing in parks all over dallas ALL THE TIME. Its not just a gay thing contrary to what is said or thought. They just target the gay people. I guess it turns them on or something.
Brad, your too handsome and I have always thought so…especially to be cruising a park for attention. You can get it anywhere. Trust me on that one! If ya want a date, call me! Id treat you right and get you out of the shit hole known as Dallas Texas.
OMG! Another victimless crime, thousands of tax dollars wasted for one arrest. Maybe the officer didn’t understand that brad was showing him the “bend and snap” manuever from Legally Blonde! Brad, we all had a great time that night we went out. What happened guy? You told me I was “boyfriend material” and I never understood that until now. If ya ever want to escape Dallas, even if for a weekend….look me up. Im not hard to find and you are always welcome in my home here at the Lake near Austin.
lets not encourage these queens who cruise parks! HE DID WRONG! Glad he finally got caught. I have seen him in various sexual acts at the parks. He is only saying he didnt do anything wrong because HE GOT CAUGHT! Having sex in public places is disgusting. A gay man myself, I hang my head in shame knowing it is CRAP like this on why we cant get anyone to seriously listen to us about equal rights. Asses like this ruin it for the rest of us NORMAL men who have sex at home. I pray the bath houses get busted and or shut down as well. Iam so sick and tired of gay men whining and crying about equal rights but they continue to do this stupid shit. Never in my life have I been ashamed of being a gay man until I get put into the same class and scum like this. I refuse to fly southwest airllines ever again as long as brad is their spokesperson. I applaud the dallas police department and all I can say is that you didn’t get him this time…but he will be back. Cruising the parks is addicting and he will slip at one point. Next time I promise it wont get tossed out of court.