An altercation outside a town courtroom between a woman and a magistrate escalated into an arrest for disorderly conduct and ended with the city magistrate brandishing a gun outside city hall.

The Tarrant Police Department is investigating a video-taped encounter where Tanilya Jackson, the city magistrate, pulled a gun from her handbag during an exchange with another woman outside city hall.

“We are investigating the report of a firearm at city hall in violation of Alabama law,” Tarrant Police Chief Wendell Major told AL.com. “The law is the law. It applies to us equally.”

The exchange on March 28 is the latest dramatic interaction caught on cameras from both inside and outside the building. The town of about 6,000 people is just northeast of Birmingham.

Efforts to reach Jackson were unsuccessful. Mayor Wayman Newton declined to comment on personnel matters.

Visitors and employees are prohibited from bringing firearms into public buildings in Tarrant. In 2021, Major issued a letter to notify employees about the policy and state law.

The altercation reportedly occurred March 28 after Jackson and Raven Shearer had an exchange outside city court. Shearer was in court for a traffic citation originally – although after the encounter, she was later arrested for disorderly conduct.

Jackson allegedly brandished her gun later that day when Shearer was released from jail and returned to city hall to retrieve her car.

Jackson, who was with her minor son, instructed him to go back into the building after taking a gun from her handbag. The other woman is not visible on camera.

“Let’s go,” Jackson said standing alone while holding a gun and a cell phone.

The other person continued to yell at Jackson.

“You think you got it going on with that gun, b****,” the woman shouted on the video.

Surveillance cameras that are mounted in offices throughout the building have chronicled a series of political fights, personnel disputes, insults and even a punch lobbed by a longtime councilman against the mayor.

Shearer, 31, said the conflict began in the lobby as she waited for traffic court. Shearer said Jackson was rude to her as she stood nearby while calling her work supervisor. The argument then continued inside the courtroom, Shearer said.

Shearer said a police officer then grabbed her to take her out of the building. Shearer said the magistrate then came outside to antagonize her while she was being arrested.

“She’s just standing there laughing like it’s funny,” Shearer said.

Shearer admitted that she used foul language and spat at the magistrate. She was then thrown to the ground by a police officer.

Shearer was later bonded out of jail by her sister and encountered Jackson in the parking lot. Shearer said neither she nor her sister threatened Jackson, although she did point her out when she saw her.

“I get that we have the right to bear arms, but she should not have walked out that court with her gun,” Shearer said. “It’s just a messed up situation that was so small that didn’t have to escalate.”