HOUSTON – Fourth of July celebrations are right around the corner and Houston city leaders are working to ensure participants at this year’s Shell Freedom Over Texas are safe.
A press conference was held Wednesday, July 3 at 10 a.m. to detail safety and security measures for guests. It will be spearheaded by Mayor John Whitmire, who was joined by the Houston Police Department’s acting chief Larry Satterwhite, and Chief Sam Pena with the Houston Fire Department.
“I feel very comfortable that this will be a wonderful experience,” Mayor Whitmire said. “I’ve watched it from about every angle but tomorrow will be a first for me to welcome Houstonians as the mayor and say ‘be safe, stay hydrated, don’t drink too much alcohol, be patient.’”
Thomas Munoz, the acting director of the Mayor’s Office of Public Safety and Homeland Security and Emergency Management Coordinator, Houston Office of Emergency Management (OEM) also was present, and Susan Christian, director of the Mayor’s Office of Special Events (MOSE).
During the conference, leaders warned of being weather aware due to Hurricane Beryl but also with the extreme temperatures.
Chief Satterwhite also gave a simple warning tip for people wanting to participate in celebratory gunfire: don’t.
“There’s no such thing as celebratory gunfire,” he said. “When you fire into the air, those rounds are coming down. It’s incredibly dangerous. Do not try to celebrate the holidays by firing into the air or anywhere else - it is against the law, we will charge you for that.”
Chief Pena also doubled down on the celebratory gunfire but added the importance of fireworks safety. For that reason, he encouraged people to attend Freedom Over Texas to celebrate as it’s a more professionally run event but also because fireworks are still illegal to operate in city limits.
“Let’s have a great, safe, fun history-making, tradition-making celebration at Freedom Over Texas,” Susan Christian concluded.
KPRC 2 will have the press conference’s live stream embedded in this story and will update as more information becomes available.