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Two Cases Of Police Brutality Raise Racial Questions In Houston

Written by News One on May 17, 2010 12:32 pm

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From the NY Times:

HOUSTON — This is a town that prides itself on being among the most diverse and tolerant cities in the country, but two recent cases of alleged police brutality against young black men have stirred anger among civil rights leaders and left some residents wondering just how far race relations in their city have come.

Two weeks ago, a black teenager and his family came forward and said that eight officers had brutally beaten him on the ground in the parking lot of a storage facility, after he had surrendered to them. A surveillance camera at the business caught the episode on videotape, which a black community organizer, named Quanell X, turned over to the mayor and the police chief.

Text continues after gallery …

Then, on Tuesday, a jury in Houston acquitted a police sergeant who had shot an unarmed black man in his family’s driveway in the upscale neighborhood of Bellaire, after another officer had mistaken him for a car thief.

The sergeant, Jeffrey Cotton, testified that he saw the young man, Robert Tolan, jump up, spin around and draw his hand across his waistband as if he were pulling a gun. The shooting occurred in dim light during a chaotic scene on the last night of 2008, just after the police had ordered Mr. Tolan to lie down on the walkway to his front door and had physically forced his mother up against a garage door.

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Tags: Police Brutality, Texas
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  • http://urbanpetersburg.com/national/tariqwriter/two-cases-of-police-brutality-raise-racial-questions-in-houston/ Two Cases Of Police Brutality Raise Racial Questions In Houston | UrbanPetersburg – Newstalk 1240

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  • http://www.blackplanet.com/BayAreaRevolution/ BayAreaRevolution

    This will continue until they start feeling repercussions for each life they take. Yet nothing ever happens! We talk about how this is going on, about how it has always happened. But nothing more. Why not? Are you afraid that if you stand against them they will kill you, THEY ARE KILLING US ANYWAY! If I have my choice I’d rather die a warrior, then a victim. That’s why I created my group on BP trying to unite the people in my area, to wake up

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/MR_NANASTROKER/ MR_NANASTROKER

    Just 2?????!!

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/JUSAYSO/ JUSAYSO

    Bellaire is an independent city!! and not a part of Houston, with it’s on police force etc…. Before you point fingers get your information right!!! I do not agree with the aquittal and hope they win there federal case against Cotton.

  • http://www.bingsite.org/council-votes-to-fire-police-sergeant.html Council votes to fire police sergeant | BingSite

    [...] Two Cases Of Police Brutality Raise Racial Questions In Houston | News One [...]

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/theopolus20/ theopolus20

    These homicidal attacks by law enforcement is nothing,short of premeditated murder.And the ones that see,it clearer then most of us,are the ones that are systematically murdered,by law enforcement.There seems to be a deliberate attempt to provoke a response geared,towards them shifting to a massive encroachment upon the community.And as i,have no doubt,you can plainly see, our leaders are eerily silent,i wonder why.I’LL tell you why,they know their place,just like these cowardly,black police officers,who is as eerily silent as our two,faced,bought,and paid for black leaders.Now i’m sure there are some who disagree,with that,comment,don’t be to quick to do so,because only,God knows whose next,because according to these new fangled civil rights leaders,your premeditated death is worth about,four or five marches to the court where the judge will declare,that it was justifiable homicide.To all of these men,who believe that they can play both sides of their people needs to their advantage,are suddenly going to find themselves trapped by their own agenda to promote a more acceptable environment,that contributes to you remaining subliminally subordinate to your own manufactured circ**stances.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/duane-g/ duane-g

    The cops’ lawyer said, “I don’t know that race needs to be injected into something where it may not have been a factor whatsoever.”

    Is this clown serious? I’ve never seen a white dude get issued a ‘Rodney King’ style beatdown at the hands of the police yet. Anyone??

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