Im not an immigration officer. The Department of Justice is supposed to fill that leadership role at a national level. His drowned body was found three days later on May 8, 1977 - exactly 40 years ago today. Who Said It: Legendary Houston Comedian Bill Hicks or New El Paso District Attorney Bill Hicks? One of them removed the handcuffs. The case and its verdict outraged the local Mexican American community, sparking protests outside the Harris County Courthouse and police headquarters. The Houston Police Department first arrested Phillips's replacement, a Security Guard Services, Inc. employee named Robert Taylor. https://www.nytimes.com/1979/10/31/archives/3-former-officers-sentenced-in-texas-each-to-serve-extra-day-for.html. By the following morning, 28 demonstrators had been taken into custody. In 1977 Joe Campos Torres had been arrested at a Houston bar for disorderly conduct. The jury heard four weeks of testimony alleging that six police officers had taken Joe Campos Torres, 23, a laborer, from a cheap cantina, where he was arrested for public drunkeness, to a secluded spot near a bayou, where five of them beat him severely while his arms were handcuffed behind his back. And once the word got out, they trusted us.. 3908 Avenue B, Suite 105 As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. They were ordered to take him to Ben Taub General Hospital, but instead of doing so, the officers brought him back to the banks of Buffalo Bayou and pushed him into the water. State District Judge James Warref of Walker County sentenced them to one year probation and a $1 fine. A convenience store/drive-in grocery at 3814 Fulton is vandalized by riotersin the 1978 Moody Park riots. This is a carousel. Feb. 27 (UPI) -- Longtime Virginia men's basketball coach Terry Holland has died, the school announced Monday. Houston Police Chief Troy Finner apologized to the family of Joe Campos Torres for his death in 1977 in Houston police custody, calling it 'straight-up murder', Torres, a US Army Vietnam veteran, was 23 when he was arrested on May 5, 1977 for disorderly conduct at a bar, and beaten. Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. He said looters from the riot at Moody Park knocked out windows and forced the clerk to flee through the back of the store as the crowd looted. Prince Harry 'hated woke nonsense' and 'made jokes we are no longer allowed to make' before meeting Meghan, Charles felt he had to act as king rather than as a father: REBECCA ENGLISH reveals why Charles backed moves Don't just stick to the Malbec! 1977 - Joe Campos Torres -- his death triggered an outcry from the Mexican-American community about police brutality in Houston. They were, however, later convicted of civil rights violations and served nine months in prison. 'I am the chief of police, but I am a son of Houston, and what people need to understand is if you cannot see and feel 44 years of pain and suffering of this family, you're not human,' Finner said. Two of the officers who had beaten Torres, Terry W. Denson and Stephen. A new podcast explores the history of the Chicano Squad as part of a Houston police department effort to repair its broken relationship with the Latino community. Divers search the murky water of Buffalo Bayou in an unsuccessful attempt to find a wallet belonging to a southeast Houston man allegedly drowned by a policeman. When police attempted to make an arrest at a Cinco de Mayo celebration in Moody Park, attendees began throwing rocks and overturning police cars. In the case of [Torres], theres racism, theres extreme brutality.. Members of Houstons Latino community described the light sentences as a slap in the face. On the first anniversary of Torress death, protests reached a fever pitch during a Cinco de Mayo celebration at Moody Park. The sentences that Judge Sterling imposed were each one year and one day, but they were set to run concurrently with separate oneyear sentences he imposed on the three men last year for a misdemeanor count of violating the victim's civil rights. According to the Houston Police Department, officers spotted a black Honda Accord that was reported stolen out of College Station at about 5:10 p.m. near Fairbanks North Houston and West Little York. 'I will never be the same, my family will never be the same. Houston police take man into custody during Moody Park riot that broke out following a Cinco de Mayo celebration in the park. Reuben Bonilla of Corpus Christi, who heads the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) in Texas, called the verdict "the most deplorable and unconscionable in recent memory," and said he fears Hispanic-American violence unless the Justic Department acts promptly to bring a federal case against the officers. While speakers from the La Raza Unida party, the Texas Farmworkers Union, the Barrios Unidos en Defensa and the Torres family addressed the crowd, the father of the dead man, Joe Torres Sr., watched with his wife Margaret. The US Department of Justice subsequently conducted its own investigation. He's gone. Their convictions were for criminally negligent homicide, a first-degree misdemeanor. Although members of the Houston police force have previously been accused of brutality against prisoners, the Torres case is the first such incident to be brought to trial. A year later and still feeling as though justice had not been served, members of Houstons Hispanic community rose up in a post Cinco de Mayo riot at the citys Moody Park. See the article in its original context from. The other count, a misdemeanor violation of Mr. Torres's rights by intimidation, carries a maximum punishment of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine. Decades before the recent police violence in Memphis, a brutally beaten Latino man was tossed by officers into a Houston bayou and drowned. Houston police officers administer first aid to Officer Tommy A. Britt, injured by a car that broke through a police line at Irvington and Fulton during a riot that began in nearby Moody Park. Poe served as a chief felony prosecutor for eight years before being appointed a state district judge in 1981. Carlos Calbillo sat on railing next to Buffalo Bayou near Commerce Street Tuesday. And as Mosqueda recalls, many non-Latino officers were happy to throw around the word wetbackthe same pejorative hurled at Torres before his death. Torres, a 23-year-old Mexican American and Vietnam War veteran, drowned . The family was surrounded by hundreds of supporters and friends as . New Higher Salaries! A Right-wing Cabal Took Over Odessas Municipal Government. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. . By the time Torres arrived at the jail, authorities refused to book him due to the extent of his injuries. View the profiles of people named Terry Denson. The case became a national symbol of police brutality against Hispanics in the Southwest. Once there, officials refused to book him because of the extent of his injuries, and ordered that he be admitted to a hospital. Robert Bennett, attorney for Mr. Denson, who had been specifically charged with pushing Mr. Torres into the water, said that he would argue against a prison sentence for his client. They're dead, Michael C. Ramsey, one of the defense lawyers, said of the Justice Department's appeal effort, which he termed frivolous. Mr. Ramsey said he considered today's sentences a victory for the additional reason that the three defendants would no longer have to face the five years probation originally imposed by the Judge. October 18, 2016 The three former officers are to be sentenced late next month. Six police officers took Torres to a spot called "The Hole" next to Buffalo Bayou and beat him. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. Rather than transport him to jail for booking, the six responding officers first took Torres to "The Hole," an isolated area behind a warehouse along Buffalo Bayou. Officers Terry Denson and Stephen Orlando were convicted of negligent homicide, a misdemeanor, and were fined $1 and sentenced to probation. Attorneys for the three defendants pointed out that the new sentences, because they exceed one year, would render the former officers eligible for parole, which would not be the case had their sentences remained at precisely one year. State District Judge James Warref of Walker County sentenced them to one year probation and a $1 fine. Torres subsequently drowned. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Officers Terry Denson (left) and Stephen Orlando (right) were the only two officers convicted of negligent homicide, a misdemeanor, in the death of Torres, and each was fined $1 and given probation. The summer of 1979, detective sergeant Jim Montero floated an idea past HPD chief Harry Caldwell: if he got permission to recruit a small group of Spanish-speaking patrol officers, he could train them to serve as translators in the field, helping the department to close the growing number of unsolved crimes in Houstons barrios. and help keep the future of the Houston Press, Use of this website constitutes acceptance of our, HPD Investigating Victims' Crime Advocate Andy Kahan, A Murder in Montrose: the Paul Broussard Legacy. You were a victim [of a crime], so Im going to treat you as a victim. We can only hope that the next congressional delegation brings along Sessions so that he, too, can learn the story of Joe Campos Torres and Chief Caldwell. Outraged Mexican-American spokesman immediately called on the U.S. Justice Department to prosecute the case in federal court as a civil rights violation, for which the officers could receive up to life in prison. Articles about the drowning of Joe Campos Torres appeared in the Houston Chronicle on May 15, 1977. His body was found on May 8Mother's Day. The sergeant said he told the officers to take the prisoner to a nearby hospital; instead, they took Mr. Torres back to the 16foot embankment overlooking Buffalo Bayou near downtown Housotn, where they had beaten him. Adrian Garcia, former HPD officer and current Harris County commissioner, said some of his friends stopped talking to him when he joined the force, calling him a sellout. With limited resources and no prior detective training, they faced scrutiny from all sides. All the while, she draws parallels to present-day discrimination against Latinos and the ongoing demonstrations against police brutality and racial injustice. They had only ninety days to solve them. 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On the night of May 5, 1977, Houston police officers arrested Torres at an East End bar for disorderly conduct. The appeals court did not specify the severity of the sentences to be imposed, however, and John Wilson, a Justice Department spokesman in Washington, said that no further appeals would be forthcoming because the judge had acted within the limits of the order.. The former policemen had been on trial in connection with the drowning death of her son. He said it demonstrated once again that there is "a dual standard of justice" in Texas, adding, "Our only redress in the federal courts.". On April 3, a plaza, a monument, a huge portrait, and a walking trail were all unveiled and dedicated to remembering a man brutally murdered by Houston police almost 45 years ago. Where's my brother? Police attempts to break up the crowd were met with waves of retaliation by the attendees. HOUSTON, Feb. 8 Three former Houston police officers were found guilty in Federal District Court here today of beating a MeicanAmerican prisoner last May and then pushing him into a downtown bayou, where he drowned. They were, however, later convicted of civil rights violations and served nine months in prison. Rather than transport him to jail for booking, the six responding officers first took Torres to "The Hole," an isolated area behind a warehouse along Buffalo Bayou. By Associated Press and Peter Belfiore For Dailymail.Com, Published: 17:01 GMT, 28 June 2021 | Updated: 08:56 GMT, 29 June 2021, Houston's police chief has publicly apologized to the family of a man killed by six officers more than four decades ago, calling it a 'straight-up murder.'. If you fill out the first name, last name, or agree to terms fields, you will NOT be added to the newsletter list. By Gloria Rubac posted on April 12, 2022. Holland, 80, previously was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Torres was 23 on the night of May 5, 1977, when he was arrested for disorderly conduct at a bar, according to reports from the Houston Chronicle at the time. 3 EXPOLICE OFFICERS CONVICTED IN HOUSTON, https://www.nytimes.com/1978/02/09/archives/3-expolice-officers-convicted-in-houston-found-guilty-in-civil.html. This has destroyed all of us. Anyone can read what you share. "There has never been anything to mark (Torres' death) in a positive way," Torres' nephew Richard Molina, told the Houston Chronicle in 2014. Buffalo Bayou near Commerce St. Tuesday May 6, 2014. After learning of Mr. Torres's death, Carless Elliott, a 20yearold rookie police officer who witnessed the incident, reported what he had seen to his superiors. Moody Park riot that broke out following a Cinco de Mayo celebration in the park. Calbillo is one of several people working to get a historical marker for Torres. Rioters looted and set fire to a shopping center, and fifteen people were injured including five police officers and two news personnel. The widely publicized case was moved on a change of venue to Huntsville, a town of 20,000, about 70 miles north of Houston. Five months after Torress murder, an all-white jury found Denson and Orlando guilty of negligent homicidea misdemeanor. Following another beating, officers pushed Torres off a raised platform into Buffalo Bayou. Because the felony and misdemeanor sentences are concurrent, the three will probably serve less than a year in prison. A number of people have since been tried. For Alonzo, the Chicano Squad is a reminder that reform is possible, even if its difficult to sustain. Instead of being transferred to Ben Taub Hospital for treatment, Torres was taken to a site along Buffalo Bayou near Commerce, where he either jumped or was pushed into the bayou. Facebook gives people the power to. The case and its verdict outraged the local Mexican-American community, sparking protests outside the Harris County Courthouse and police headquarters. Campos Torres was beaten by six officers for hours before they took him to the city jail. City Employees Are Heading for the Exits. The state granted immunity for two others, Glenn Brinkmeyer and Lewis Kinney, in exchange for their testimony. Service station vandalized by riotersduring riot at Moody Park. His body would end up in the Buffalo Bayou, where it was found three days later. The officers were eventually sentenced to nine months in prison, but tensions simmered for a year until they boiled over on the anniversary of Campos Torres' death. This edited footage from Houston's KPRC-TV follows the grand jury investigation into the death of Jos Campos Torres, a 23-year-old Mexican American and Vietnam War veteran. Torres was allegedly beaten and then drowned by Houston police. (Houston, Texas) Background of case involving alleged beating of Joe Campos Torres, which resulted in his drowning, by officers Terry Wayne Denson, Stephen Orlando and Joseph Janish given. It is the headquarters for the Texas prison system. info@texasarchive.org Above is the abstract of the item that you're interested in viewing from the Vanderbilt Television News Archive's collection. Officer Terry W. Denson, 27, is charged with murder in Torres' death. The group cleared forty homicides by the end of 1979 and later earned the recognition of the National Latino Peace Officers, in 1997, when they solved 91 percent of the cases theyd been assigned. There, the officers beat Torres, bruising and bloodying him to the point that when they finally drove him to the city jail, officials there wouldnt process him, telling the officers to take him to a nearby hospital. Brinkmeyer said Denson previously had boasted throwing a wino down a ravine and had beaten other hand-cuffed prisoners. 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