HOUSTON (CBS Houston) � Black community leaders in Houston are up in arms in the wake of a former Houston police officer being found not guilty of his role in a 2010 police beating of a 15-year-old caught on security video.
Andrew Blomberg�s acquittal Wednesday has caused in an uproar among the black community, which has called into question whether the case was about race. Blomberg, 29, is white, while Chad Holley, a teenager at the time who was apprehended on suspicion of burglary, is black. The selection of the jury has also come under scrutiny as the case was decided by an all-white jury
In the video, Holley, 15 at the time, fell over the hood of a police car as he was fleeing was the scene of a burglary with several other men. As Holley is rolling onto his stomach and putting his hands behind his back several Houston Police Department officers proceed to kick, punch and stomp the teen. Holley was later convicted of burglary charges stemming from that day.
The decision sent activists into an uproar outside the courtroom.
�What they did today is send a message to black people, to all of us, that our lives aren�t worth a damn in this city,� activist Quanell X told the Houston Chronicle.
U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Houston has indicated that she will make overtures to the Department of Justice to see whether civil rights laws had been violated during the course of the trial. Houston lawmakers are also hoping for a complete judicial review, a process similar to that of the Rodney King case in 1991. �Every citizen deserves due process and their right to a trial by a jury, but also every victim deserves a thorough review of their case to determine if justice has truly been rendered,� Jackson Lee said to the Chronicle.
Blomberg�s defense team, however, refutes claims of the decision being motivated by race.
�This was not � is not � a racial thing,� Blomberg�s lawyer, Dick DeGuerin, told the Chronicle. �It has been made into that by others for their own reasons.�
On Wednesday, Houston Mayor Annise Parker publicly disagreed with the verdict, but remained supportive of HPD as a whole, as well as the decision to dismiss Blomberg from the department for his role in the beating.
�There are thousands of Houston police officers, most of whom do an outstanding job every day under very difficult circumstances,� Parker said during a news conference. �There are always officers who fall short, and it is our responsibility to weed those officers out. I think the majority of the community here � whatever their reaction to this verdict � supports the Houston Police Department and understands how diligent we are in maintaining professional standards in that police department.�
Blomberg was the first of four HPD officers to go to trial as a result of the recorded beating.
This was not � is not � a racial thing,� Blomberg�s lawyer, Dick DeGuerin, told the Chronicle.
Seems like this guy is the new Racehorse Haynes.Fwiw,he was the guy who managed to get a lot of the truth out which Reno's bunch tried to cover up at Waco.
Dick DeGuerin and his brother have been around a long time, they specialize in tough cases, like where the client is obviously guilty of a heinous crime - and often can't afford to pay for such high-priced talent. They value their reps as winners at all costs.
In this case, police officers that were white, black, and Hispanic all joined in whuppin' this boy's ass - and it was videoed. The public has only been told he was a burglary suspect, not what he did to provoke a large group of veteran officers of all races to act as they did. The jury, however, was evidently given more information. There are 3 or for more officers that will have to stand trial in this case, and all of them were already fired. Black "leadership:" is going to try to make a big deal out of it - because that's what they do. I doubt their threats of "taking it to the streets" are more than just posing for the TV cameras, but Houston has a black police chief, and so far he has taken the side against his officers.
So far the local media is doing their best to stir things up without a lot of takers. Local CBS reporter was claiming yesterday "100, maybe 200, maybe even 300 protestors!!" Probably had less than a hundred. Really sad to watch.
Quannel X is that stupid [bleep] who admitted, when he was being interviewed on the radio, that he only did the activism gig because he wasn't any good at basketball.
In this case, police officers that were white, black, and Hispanic all joined in whuppin' this boy's ass - and it was videoed. The public has only been told he was a burglary suspect, not what he did to provoke a large group of veteran officers of all races to act as they did. The jury, however, was evidently given more information.
Curious. What was that exonerating evidence?
We may know the time Ben Carson lied, but does anyone know the time Hillary Clinton told the truth?
Immersing oneself in progressive lieberalism is no different than bathing in the sewage of Hell.
Lived in Houston for many years and all I can say is that there are a whole lot of Bubbas dowm there that won't put up with this kind of crap. Could get interesting.
Dad always said, "Nadie Nacio Ensenado" (No One Was Born Taught)
