Houston Latino History - 1977- 1978

A couple of months ago I asked some students in a cultural studies course if they knew anything about the Moody Park Riot of 1978. No one knew about the incident.

The problem was directly related to the death of a Vietnam veteran named Joe Campos Torres - the students didn't know about him either.

Here is an article from The Economist on Campos Torres' death. At the bottom of this dreamacttexas post is a recent story by KUHF, Houston Public Radio.

"Mr Joe Campos Torres was arrested by six police officers for being disorderly in a bar. They beat him so badly that the jailer refused to accept him and told them to take him to hospital. Instead they dropped him into the Buffalo Bayou "to see if he could swim". His body was found three days later. " from The Economist

For many decades it was a common thing for police (from most anywhere in southeast Texas) to beat the Latino and Black men when they were arrested.

listen to KUHF story

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The Economist
October 22, 1977
Texas;
Licence to kill?

SECTION: THE WORLD; AMERICAN SURVEY; Pg. 50

LENGTH: 410 words



The deaths of two Mexican-Americans at the hands of police authorities in Texas are attracting unusual attention, both in the state and at the department of justice in Washington. For nearly 20 years the department has had a rule that it would not try to prosecute anyone who had been tried earlier for the same offence in state or local courts "unless the reasons are compelling". In February Mr Griffin Bell, the attorney general, stated that in future each case would be considered on its merits - and that in the case of the shooting of Mr Richard Morales by the police chief of Castroville. Texas, the allegations were so serious that they would have warranted being presented to a federal grand jury even if Mr Morales had not died. He was shot in 1975 on a lonely road, by accident the police chief, Mr Frank Hayes, said, and buried secretly by Mrs Hayes and her sister.

My Hayes was charged with murder last year but the state jury reduced the charge to aggravated assault, as it has a right to do in Texas, and he was sentenced to 2-10 years in prison (the maximum possible); he will be eligible for parole. Prominent Texans, including both senators, Mr Lloyd Bentsen and Mr John Tower, several congressmen and the governor, joined the Chicano community in calling for federal action.

On September 30th the jury in a federal trial convicted Mr Hayes of violating Mr Morales's civil rights (the only federal charge that could be brought). Sentence is to be passed on October 28th and could be for life imprisonment.

Meanwhile another case has evoked Texan requests for the federal authorities to step in. In Houston in May Mr Joe Campos Torres was arrested by six police officers for being disorderly in a bar. They beat him so badly that the jailer refused to accept him and told them to take him to hospital. Instead they dropped him into the Buffalo Bayou "to see if he could swim". His body was found three days later. One of the police, a 20-year-old rookie, only two months on the force, has testified against the others. Two of them were acquitted of murder in a state trial, but found guilty of negligent homicide, a misdemeanour, and sentenced to a year in prison and fines of $2,000 each. The sentences were suspended. The department of justice in Washington is considering whether to enter the Torres case and also whether to launch an enquiry into the many other charges of brutality against the Houston police.

from Lexis-Nexis


Moody Park- The Aftermath
kuhf.org
Thursday, May 8, 2008

By: Jack Williams

Thirty years ago today, fires from the Moody Park Riot were still smoldering. Destroyed police cars and looted businesses were evidence of what had happened the day before. But as Jack Williams reports in the third of a three part series, the destruction was just the beginning of a gradual healing process. It also marked a new era in how the Houston police department related to the City's minority communities.

A Mexican-American fiesta in a Houston park turned into a riot last night, the result of long-simmering hostility between police there and Mexican-Americans who make up about 23-percent of Houston's 1.2 million residents."

It was May 8th of 1978 when Walter Cronkite told the rest of the nation what had happened in Moody Park. The near north side around the park looked like a war zone.

"Today, a small crowd watched as store-keepers secured what was left of their shops as officers tried to keep scavengers out of the rubble." "It was a challenging time because the people in the Hispanic community did not trust the police department."

Harris County Precinct Six Constable Victor Trevino was a Houston Police officer in 1978.

"They didn't feel comfortable with us. They really didn't feel like we were there to provide a good public service, that we were there really to intimidate and talk down and harass."

"Joe Torres, a name that has provoked protests and seething resentments among Houston's Mexican-American residents for a year."

Less violent protests continued for a few days, but already, members of the Hispanic community and HPD were working to heal the wounds caused by the death of Joe Torres.

"It was a trying time. It was very challenging for everybody to work together."

Former LULAC district director Mamie Garcia had been hired by then police chief Harry Caldwell as a community liaison.

"My job was to get people involved in the community process of establishing positive interactive programs with the police department."

"Much to Mamie Garcia's credit, she helped to channel that energy, that frustration, in a much more productive way."

Houston City Councilman Adrian Garcia was in Moody Park when the riot started and later became a Houston police officer.

"She helped to make sure that if people had concerns that they didn't keep it to themselves but found a way to effectively get those issues on the table so to speak."

The Houston Police Department had established a permanent Internal Affairs Division and a Spanish language program for officers. It also set-up police store fronts in minority neighborhoods.

"The Houston Police Department from that period forth would start to undergo changes, albeit subtle, but by the time you get ten years later, the Houston Police Department doesn't even look the same, doesn't even act the same."

Dwight Watson wrote the book Race and the Houston Police Department. He says the death of Joe Torres and the Moody Park Riot was the beginning of real change in Houston.

"It brought people who were very conservative and very quiet to become very vocal and very political and people began to hold the police accountable."

Today, Moody Park looks better than it did in 1978, with a pool, ball fields and a community center. The scars of the riot are gone now, but the changes are still echoing 30 years later.