Mr. Torres's body was found in a Houston bayou on May 9, 1977, two days after he was arrested by Mr. Denson and other officers in a latenight barroom disturbance. A Houston Chronicle reporter and photographer joined the Northeastern Trail Riders Association to document the highlights and challenges of life on the trail during the group's 108-mile journey to the 2023 Houston Letter from the editor: Introducing our exclusive new newsletter, Black trail riders head to Houston rodeo parade after grueling, joyful 6-day journey. The three former officers are to be sentenced late next month. And those who chronicled the attack said the executioner was. Houston makes national news all the time. Two days later, his body was found badly beaten floating in Buffalo Bayou. Police officers took Torres to a spot called "The Hole" next to Buffalo Bayou and beat him. 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That trial took place in Huntsville, Tex., 70 miles north of Houston, because the defendants had said they could not get a fair trial in Houston. Report: Houston is the No. 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 city was quickly growing into the murder capital of the United States as a slew of unsolved killings in Houstons barrios piled up. On May 5, 1977, Campos Torres, was arrested at a bar for disorderly conduct. His body was found on May 8Mother's Day. Forty years ago Torres was killed by police in an incident that sparked massive riots across Houston. 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. His body was found on May 8Mother's Day. Chief Bond comments on the function of the Civilian Review Board. Two days after Torres was arrested, his mangled body was found floating in Buffalo Bayou. 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. 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. Bring on the Shiplap? In 2004, Poe was elected to the United States House of Representatives, serving for 14 years. In addition to having a strong work ethic, Montero said, the officers should hail from the neighborhoods they would be policing. 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. In the wake of Torres's death, frustrated residents of Houston's barrios staged rallies and protests around the city. Any time in the penitentiary would be unacceptable, Mr. Bennett said, adding that Mr. Denson was an outstanding public servant to this community.. 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! Hernandez, Raymond Gonzalez, and Jose Selvera Jr. On top of their translating work in the field, the squad was also tasked with investigating 52 cases that experienced detectives on the force hadnt been able to crack. The victim, Joe Campos Torres, 23, allegedly was dumped off the 25-foot retaining wall into the bayou last Friday. The state granted immunity for two others, Glenn Brinkmeyer and Lewis Kinney, in exchange for their testimony. "All those cops, they just got a slap on the wrist, and you know what? Dairy Queen Gets an Updated Jingle, Courtesy of Josh Abbott, Check Out Kilgores Treasure Trove of Vintage Cameras, Radios, and TVs, How Florence ButtNot Her SonLaunched the H-E-B Empire. New Higher Salaries! The Torres case prompted the Houston Police Department to create its Internal Affairs Division in 1977. Keep supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker. The state granted immunity for two others, Glenn Brinkmeyer and Lewis Kinney, in exchange for their testimony. Six police officers took Torres to a spot called "The Hole" next to Buffalo Bayou and beat him. The protests that . And though her mother instilled in her a love for the U.S., Alonzo was also aware that her identity as a Mexican American sometimes made her a target. Vanderbilt Television News Archive Poe served as a chief felony prosecutor for eight years before being appointed a state district judge in 1981. 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.". Torres's body was found two days later. In the case of the burglary suspect, Garcia pointed out that a 14-year-old witness had disputed the officer's claim that the suspect had lunged at the officer. "No parade, no day of remembrance. The comments below have not been moderated. . He said it demonstrated once again that there is "a dual standard of justice" in Texas, adding, "Our only redress in the federal courts.". 3908 Avenue B, Suite 105 Houston, and its police department, had to respond. If I didnt tell you that this story took place forty years ago, you might think it had just happened, Alonzo told me. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. 'My mother was never the same after Jose was killed,' his sister Janie Torres, who was 10 at the time her brother's death, said. Slowly, the Chicano Squad earned back the trust that HPD had lost. While Bond says that he "cannot create a police review board," the Houston Police Department established the Internal Affairs Division soon after Torres' death to investigate police misconduct. Houston police officers during riot at Moody Park. Judge Sterling, who issued the sentences today without comment, was appointed to the Federal bench by President Ford in 1976. 6:00AM, Kinetic Celebrates Womens History Month with a World Premiere, What Your Favorite Mainline Final Fantasy Game Says About You. Denson and Orlando were also convicted of assault and sentenced to nine months in prison. Films shown; previous state trial of 2 officers and demands of local Mex.-Americans for Justice Department probe noted. View other clips in this broadcast . Janie Torres is the sister of Jose "Joe" Campos Torres, who on May 5, 1977 was beaten and thrown into Buffalo Bayou by Houston police officers. Consider it our city's version of the Ferguson protests. Six police officers took Torres to a spot called "The Hole" next to Buffalo Bayou and beat him. The conflicts could have kept escalating were it not for Houston's new police chief, Harry Caldwell, who was hired a few months after the riot. CBS Evening News for Wednesday, Feb 08, 1978 When police attempted to make an arrest at a Cinco de Mayo celebration in Moody Park, attendees began throwing rocks and overturning police cars. The killing of Torres - a Hispanic veteran arrested at an East End bar - was the spark that set off a series of protests, firings and reforms that eventually transformed the Houston Police Department into the modern crime-fighting institution that we know today. Torres subsequently drowned. After the Huntsville verdict was reached last fall, pressure from Texas political leaders, including Gov. Torres, an American citizen and a former serviceman, was wearing combat boots at the time of the fatal plunge. Watch: Astros SP Luis Garcia debuts new windup after rule changes, Oops! Testimony indicated that Oralando, who drove the patrol car in which Torres was transported, had encouraged Denson by "this would be a good time" to see if "the wetback" could swim. He's gone. After adjustments, if you continue to experience problems, please contact us. The Justice Department brought civil rights charges against the three after Mr. Denson and Mr. Orlando were acquitted of murder charges in state court. Decades before the recent police violence in Memphis, a brutally beaten Latino man was tossed by officers into a Houston bayou and drowned. ,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. The former officers have admitted that they beat their handcuffed prisoner for insolence before booking him. A third officer, J.J. Janish, was charged with misdemeanor assault. When you look at the records of some of their arrests, youll find lacerated livers, fractured skulls, broken hands. Houston firemen put out fire of burning car flipped during a riot that began in nearby Moody Park. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. This connection to Torres and to the officers on the Chicano Squad is what allows Alonzo to shine as a host. Dozens were arrested and 15 were injured as protesters clashed with police in one of the citys most notorious riots. 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. Margaret Torres, mother of Joe Campos Torres, speaks to a crowd gathered at the Houston police station Oct. 8, 1977 to protest the verdict handed down by a Huntsville jury in the the murder trial of former Houston policemen Terry Denson and Stephen Orlando. Police attempts to break up the crowd were met with waves of retaliation by the attendees. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. The Torres case prompted the Houston Police Department to create its Internal Affairs Division in 1977. 1977 - Joe Campos Torres -- his death triggered an outcry from the Mexican-American community about police brutality in Houston. 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. The judge received dismissed the case without explanation. 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. Terry Denson was married to Tennie E. (Kimbrough) Denson on October 28, 1971 in Harris County, Texas. "We never got justice," his sister Sandra Torres told the Houston Chronicle in 2011. Calbillo is one of several people working to get a historical marker for Torres. Complaints against members of the Houston Police Department may be initiated in person to a supervisor at any police substation throughout the City of Houston, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The six arresting officers instead took him, once again, to The Hole. More than 40 people were arrested during the riots, which became nationwide news and led to the creation of HPD's internal affairs department. . 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. Witnesses on the other side of the bayou couldnt make out what was happening in the darkness, but they heard a scuffle, then a splash. And sometimes it's Houston murders. One of the counts, involving a violation of Federal civil rights laws in which death results, is a felony, with the maximum sentence life in prison. the Texanist, is a staff writer. 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.