The officers then took Torres to the city jail, where jailers refused to process him due to his injuries. Terry Denson in Texas. 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. One of them removed the handcuffs. Latinos around town began pinning a single dollar bill to their shirts, meant to symbolize what their lives were worth in the eyes of the criminal justice system. Killings, planted evidence and a federal discrimination lawsuit all provided the fuel that Torres' death set ablaze at an event known as the Moody Park Riot. And to this day, Morales remains skeptical that the Chicano Squad was the answer. Terry Denson, 27; Stephen Orlando, 22, and Joseph J. Janish, 22 -- said they do not plan to appeal the . This is a carousel. "We never got justice," his sister Sandra Torres told the Houston Chronicle in 2011. It's been 40 years since 23-year-old Vietnam War veteran Joe Campos Torres' body was found washed up on the banks of the Buffalo Bayou. "The environment that created the Torres case continues to exist," Garcia said, "and we can expect a continuation of the same kind of thing.". Historian Dwight David Watson, who is interviewed in Chicano Squad, wrote a book on twentieth-century HPD history in which he traces its ties to the Ku Klux Klan in the twenties and the years of racist incidents and attempts at reform that followed. ', Torres' sister Janie said she was 10 at the time of her brother's death and that her family was never the same. 1977 - Joe Campos Torres -- his death triggered an outcry from the Mexican-American community about police brutality in Houston. 12 pick, Tips for bringing your dog or cat on a flight, West Texans share apocalyptic photos of after massive dust storm, This Houston rodeo food vendor wants you to eat his rattlesnake. The judge gave the three suspended sentences of 10 years, plus five years probation, on the felony charge that resulted from Mr. Torres's death. 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. Following another beating, officers pushed Torres off a raised platform into Buffalo Bayou. But Glenn L. Brinkmeyer, 25, one of those given immunity and an officer in whose wedding Denson had served as a groomsman, testified that Denson had pushed Torres. Powerful Commons committee could look at case for banning stoves in towns and Love Island hit by hundreds of Ofcom complaints from furious viewers over 'toxic femininity' row and Movie Carrie Johnson joins campaign for Joanna Simpson's killer BA pilot husband who bludgeoned her to death with 'I don't know if I can trust them': Mel B reveals she 'wouldn't call the police' over domestic violence - Houston police chief Troy Finner formally apologizes to family of Joe Campos Torres over 1977 death - ABC13 Houston, Do not sell or share my personal information. Torres' mother was quoted as saying, "If five Mexican killed a cop, it wouldn't be like this. Terry Denson and Steven Orlando, for murder. Above is the abstract of the item that you're interested in viewing from the Vanderbilt Television News Archive's collection. The jury returned a probated sentence of one year in jail and a $2,000 fine. By John M. Crewdson; Special to The New York Times. Mr. Elliott later became a prosecution witness at both trials. He said it demonstrated once again that there is "a dual standard of justice" in Texas, adding, "Our only redress in the federal courts.". 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. It goes to show how those moments of crisis and scandal within our public institutions become important opportunities for forward-looking leaders. Houston's Chicano community found the fine especially hard to swallow, with chants of "A Chicano's life is only worth a dollar," reverberating through the neighborhood and throughout the country's Mexican-American communities. After a jail booking officer refused to accept Torres because of his injuries and ordered him taken to a hospital, the officers returned to the secluded spot, where one of them allegedly pushed him over a 17-foot embankment into the water after saying, "Let's see if this wetback can swim.". And those who chronicled the attack said the executioner was. . Healthy mother-of-two, 32, collapsed and died from brain bleed while she led fitness bounce class. In 1977 Joe Campos Torres had been arrested at a Houston bar for disorderly conduct. ,The allwhite jury of seven men and five women was in its second day of deliberations after a trial conducted by Judge Ross N. Sterling, and had deliberated for a total of seven hours before reaching the verdict. On January 15, according to a $100,000 damage suit filed by Robert and Alice Gleason, N. W. Holloway and his partner J. T. Olin were among several other cops who stormed into their Pasadena trailer. We need to be honest about our history in order to learn from it, because decades later, the same thing is still happening., For decades before Torress murder, violent encounters with HPD officers had soured the relationship between the police department and the citys Black and Latino communities. At least 22 persons were arrested at a city park after violence broke out in the chiefly Mexican-American neighborhood following a disturbance which led to vandalism and bottle throwing among the estimated mob of 1,500 persons. Torres's body was found two days later. However, Houston's police chief issued a statement saying that "the processes of justice have prevailed over demagoguery.". 'Let's get this clear because there's been some chatter in the neighborhoods [about] how Chief Finner feels about this,' he said of Torres' death, 'and that is straight-up murder of somebody. Houstonians should take pride in knowing that a once-troubled department is now a model for the nation. Houston firemen fight blaze which was reportedly set by rioters in the 4400 block of Fulton. Houston police officers give first aid to officer Tommy A. Britt who was injured by a car that broke through a police line at Irvington and Fulton during a riot that began in nearby Moody Park. The Cavaliers said . To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. The three foriner officers, Terry W. Denson, 27 years old, Stephen Orlando, 22, and Joseph J. Janish, 24, were convicted after a twoweek trial on two counts of violating the civil rights of the prisoner, Joe Campos Torres, a 23-yearold laborer whose body was found floating in Bffalo Bayou two days after the beating. info@texasarchive.org Judge Sterling has been criticized recently by some members of a Federal grand jury here that handed up antiracketeering indictments against two oilbrokering firms. Im not an immigration officer. The former policemen had been on trial in connection with the drowning death of her son. The family was surrounded by hundreds of supporters and friends as . The unidentified suspect was suspected of throwing a brick during the riot. All the while, she draws parallels to present-day discrimination against Latinos and the ongoing demonstrations against police brutality and racial injustice. Police responded to a call at the park on the evening of May 7, 1978, and as the crowd began chanting Justice for Jose Torres, a riot broke out. 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. Mr. Orlando and Mr, Denson were convicted last October of negligent homicide, a misdemeanor, after a jury acquitted the two former police officers of the murder charge. "All those cops, they just got a slap on the wrist, and you know what? The Houston Police Department first arrested Phillips's replacement, a Security Guard Services, Inc. employee named Robert Taylor. info@texasarchive.org Articles about the drowning of Joe Campos Torres appeared in the Houston Chronicle on May 15, 1977. A group of Houston police cadets gathered Friday morning to hear family members of Joe Campos Torres speak of their loved one's death by officers in 1977. . 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. Report: Houston is the No. Phone 615-322-2927. The US Department of Justice subsequently conducted its own investigation. Rioters looted and set fire to a shopping center, and fifteen people were injured including five police officers and two news personnel. All of the jurors were white, none was Mexican-American and five either worked for law enforcement agencies or had relatives who did. Calbillo is one of several people working to get a historical marker for Joe Campos Torres. That sort of exchange previously would have been unimaginable. October 7, 1977 Two former Houston policemen on trial for beating and drowning a Mexican-American prisoner in their custody last May were convicted by a jury today of misdemeanor charges that. State District Judge James Warref of Walker County sentenced them to one year probation and a $1 fine. REPORTER: Walter Cronkite, (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. 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.'. Make a one-time donation today for as little as $1. Torres subsequently drowned. Following a month-long trial, an all-white jury convicted Denson and Orlando on a reduced charge of negligent homicidea misdemeanoron October 6. Of the six, initially only officers Terry Denson and Steven Orlando were charged with murder. After the Huntsville verdict was reached last fall, pressure from Texas political leaders, including Gov. See the article in its original context from. This connection to Torres and to the officers on the Chicano Squad is what allows Alonzo to shine as a host. The six arresting officers instead took him, once again, to The Hole. On the night of May 5, 1977, Houston police officers arrested Jos Campos Torres, a 23-year-old Mexican American and Vietnam War veteran, at an East End bar for disorderly conduct. State District Judge James Warref of Walker County sentenced them to one year probation and a $1 fine. 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