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El Paso proves its community is stronger than hate; Galveston PD needs history lessons.
Army Pfc. Glendon Oakley Jr. ran toward the sound of gunshots and carried children to safety. Walmart employee Gilbert Serna led people through a fire exit and helped them hide in shipping containers. Adria González found shelter in a storage area and called out to other customers to join her. They are some of the heroes who risked their lives during the shooting last Saturday in El Paso. They are not outliers, though. They are part of a community that banded together to support and comfort victims and their families. The man who targeted El Paso did so because he wanted to terrorize Hispanics, and while he succeeded in stirring up fear and anger, those feelings will soon subside. What will never go away is the knowledge that when El Pasoans were tested, they rose to the challenge. When their neighbors needed help, they answered the call. In trying to weaken a community, the gunman hardened its resolve and showed the world what an 80 percent Hispanic, all-American city like El Paso is made of.
What were they thinking? Two Galveston horse-mounted police officers arrested a black man on a misdemeanor criminal trespassing charge. Rather than wait for a prisoner transport vehicle, they used a “trained technique” and led the handcuffed suspect down the street with a rope tied to his wrists. The image, captured by a passerby in a vehicle, is profoundly disturbing, evoking slavery and the subjugation of black bodies. Galveston Police Chief Vernon Hale has apologized, said the technique would be discontinued and called the actions of the officers “poor judgment.” Here’s hoping a third-party investigation of the incident will help law enforcement take a hard look at itself.
The Texas Department of Public Safety is no longer arresting people over low-level marijuana offenses. An interoffice memo obtained by The Texas Tribune directs DPS officers to issue a citation in lieu of arrest over any misdemeanor amount of marijuana. This stems from confusion caused by the legalization of hemp, which comes from the same plant as pot. The law distinguishes between legal hemp and still-illegal marijuana based on the concentration of THC (the chemical that produces the drug’s high). Problem is, state crime labs still don’t have “the capacity to measure the THC concentration levels,” according to the memo. The document is dated July 10, eight days before Texas state officials sent a letter pressuring district attorneys who are refusing to prosecute misdemeanor pot cases. Instead of defending and obfuscating, state officials should just admit the governor and lawmakers goofed when they failed to consider the unintended consequences of their new law and work to fix it.
U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, DTexas, got in trouble this week after he tweeted out the names of 44 San Antonio donors who contributed the maximum amount under federal law to the Trump campaign this year. Castro called out some of the better-known donors — including the owner of Bill Miller Bar-B-Q — saying that their donations fuel “a campaign of hate that labels Hispanic immigrants as ‘invaders.’ ” The pearl-clutching by some Republicans was a bit much, as are claims that Castro put anyone in danger by “doxing” them with information that is publicly available (at fec.gov/data). Still, most people on the list are hardly public figures, and there’s a difference between having your name in a database and in a congressman’s tweet. It also continues the ugly trend of making politics personal and targeting individuals for their beliefs. Castro should follow Michelle Obama’s advice and stay on the high road.