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I posted the story here a while back about how a Bellaire Texas PD officer stopped a black man (about 18) who was driving the family car with his cousin in the passenger seat. The young man was a minor league baseball player heading to a career in the major leagues, until he was shot. The office pulled them over (correction, I have been going from memory of TV news bits, the links below indicate he and his cousin were standing on the drive way, and the car was parked in the driveway on their own property) officer(s? Ithough there was just one. a link below says officers?)) computer showed the car to be stolen. He had the driver on the ground face down, and then got into a tussle with the mother who insisted the car was not stolen, mother coming to he sons aid, then the boy sat up and asked the offer to stop beating on his mother when the office pulled his gun and shot the boy. That is their side of the story. The story has made national news now, and the issue of racial profiling has hit hit center stage. A review was ordered, and found that Bellaire is 90% white, and that 90% of the police stops of vehicles had minorities behind the wheel. Bellaire claims they are inside of Houston metro area, and that is there excuse, that traffic through their town from Houston has more minorities.
There has been a call for the police chief and white, blond female mayor to resign.
So what do you all think of this story?
Facts:
The young man was black and an honor roll student all american athlete heading to college next, they lived in Bellaire, and the car was stopped in their driveway at their home in their own city, Bellaire. They were unarmed. The car was not stolen, and was properly registered, etc.
From what I recall of early TV news and what I read on the link below, I may have some of the details wrong, but not the main story.
Stories like this are just getting too common in my opinion. Oh, and I am a white male, over 50, so I have no ax racial ax to grind on this issue.
:soapbox:
Let the debate fun begin!:cheers:
Oh, and here is a link on the story:
http://kathmanduk2.wordpress.com/2009/02/18/robbie-tolan-speaks-out-on-bellaire-police-shooting/
http://www.google.com/search?q=bell...s=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
OK here is a cut and paste of the details:
"
Tolan's relatives say the two young men had just arrived from a late-night run to a Jack-in-the-Box fast food restaurant.
As they walked up the driveway to their home, Anthony Cooper said an unidentified man emerged from the darkness with a flashlight and a gun pointed at them.
"We did not know it was a police officer," said Cooper. "He said, 'Stop. Stop.' And we were like, 'Why? Who are you?'"
The officers ordered both men to lie down on the ground. Tolan's parents heard the commotion and came outside. Police will only say an "altercation" took place. Tolan's family say it involved his mother.
"The cop pushed her against the wall," said Tolan's uncle, Mike Morris.
Relatives say Tolan started to lean up from the ground to ask the officer what he was doing to his mother. That's when the family says Tolan was shot in the chest, the bullet piercing his lung and then lodging in his liver.
But Tolan's SUV wasn't stolen. Both men were unarmed and relatives say they were hardly a threat to the police officer. Anger over the shooting has been building over the last week.
"He was the victim of the worst case and worst kind of racial profiling," said community activist Quannel X.
The Bellaire Police Department has called the shooting "tragic" and put the officer involved in the incident on administrative leave."
There has been a call for the police chief and white, blond female mayor to resign.
So what do you all think of this story?
Facts:
The young man was black and an honor roll student all american athlete heading to college next, they lived in Bellaire, and the car was stopped in their driveway at their home in their own city, Bellaire. They were unarmed. The car was not stolen, and was properly registered, etc.
From what I recall of early TV news and what I read on the link below, I may have some of the details wrong, but not the main story.
Stories like this are just getting too common in my opinion. Oh, and I am a white male, over 50, so I have no ax racial ax to grind on this issue.
:soapbox:
Let the debate fun begin!:cheers:
Oh, and here is a link on the story:
http://kathmanduk2.wordpress.com/2009/02/18/robbie-tolan-speaks-out-on-bellaire-police-shooting/
http://www.google.com/search?q=bell...s=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
OK here is a cut and paste of the details:
"
Tolan's relatives say the two young men had just arrived from a late-night run to a Jack-in-the-Box fast food restaurant.
As they walked up the driveway to their home, Anthony Cooper said an unidentified man emerged from the darkness with a flashlight and a gun pointed at them.
"We did not know it was a police officer," said Cooper. "He said, 'Stop. Stop.' And we were like, 'Why? Who are you?'"
The officers ordered both men to lie down on the ground. Tolan's parents heard the commotion and came outside. Police will only say an "altercation" took place. Tolan's family say it involved his mother.
"The cop pushed her against the wall," said Tolan's uncle, Mike Morris.
Relatives say Tolan started to lean up from the ground to ask the officer what he was doing to his mother. That's when the family says Tolan was shot in the chest, the bullet piercing his lung and then lodging in his liver.
But Tolan's SUV wasn't stolen. Both men were unarmed and relatives say they were hardly a threat to the police officer. Anger over the shooting has been building over the last week.
"He was the victim of the worst case and worst kind of racial profiling," said community activist Quannel X.
The Bellaire Police Department has called the shooting "tragic" and put the officer involved in the incident on administrative leave."
Last edited:
arty:
