HOUSTON
Movement says: 'Racist, sexist DA, go away'
By
Gloria Rubac
Houston
Published Feb 6, 2008 9:00 PM
A broad movement is building in Houston calling for the removal of not only the
Harris County district attorney but his whole senior staff as well. Hundreds of
demonstrators rallied in front of the criminal courthouse here on Jan. 31
calling on District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal to resign immediately.
Activists in Houston mobilize against District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal on Jan. 31.
Photo: Jon Axford
|
Speaker after speaker denounced the racist, sexist and pornographic photos and
videos found in e-mails on the district attorney’s work computer that
have come to light in the last month.
One offensive e-mail showed a Black man lying in a street with an empty bucket
of fried chicken, a watermelon and a soda next to him. It was called
“Overdosed.” Other e-mails showed women in public places having
their clothes ripped off their bodies.
The district attorney exchanged some of these e-mails with the spouse of
prosecutor Kelly Siegler, chief of the Special Crimes Bureau.
Siegler recently came under fire for excluding a juror in the trial of activist
and political prisoner Howard Guidry. She said she objected to the potential
juror because of the church he attended, but information revealed that the
African-American man was a member of the NAACP and this was the real reason he
was struck. While Siegler apologized to his church for calling them “nuts
and screwballs,” she has yet to apologize to the NAACP.
Standing on the front steps of the courthouse, Deric Muhammad of the Millions
More Movement told the crowd, “We have a systemic problem. It is not just
Rosenthal that has to go—the whole toilet must be flushed.”
Stephanie Connor, through her tears, told the protesters, “My brother had
new evidence in his case but no court would hear it. He was innocent and his
execution killed my momma shortly before my brother was put to death. I lost
two people because of the injustice going on here in Harris County.”
Stephanie’s brother, Johnny Connor, was executed on Aug. 22, making
history for being the 400th person the state of Texas has executed since the
death penalty was reinstated in 1976.
Other speakers included Brother Quannell X, New Black Panther Nation; Minister
Robert Muhammad, Nation of Islam Mosque #45; Ovide Duncantell, Black Heritage
Society; Sister Jean Dember, National Black United Front; Jolanda Jones and
Peter Brown, Houston City Councilpersons; and Deloyd Parker, S.H.A.P.E.
Community Center.
After the rally, the militant crowd marched to the federal courthouse, where
Rosenthal was in court facing a contempt charge because he had deleted e-mails
that the federal judge had told him to produce for the court. Hundreds of
protesters sat in court for the afternoon, filling the courtroom.
The criminal justice system in Harris County, Texas, in the country’s
fourth-largest city (Houston), is as racist and as corrupt as they come in the
United States.
Rosenthal has lost his credibility, not only with a vast number of people, but
even with his Republican Party, which asked him not to run for re-election this
year. He is now facing six months in jail for deleting e-mails, is being
investigated by the Texas attorney general for using a work computer to promote
his re-election campaign and could be removed from his job due to public
outrage.
The Coalition for Social Justice is meeting weekly, holding town hall meetings
and appearing on TV and radio shows. They have plans to tackle the lack of a
public defender system in Harris County. They are filing petitions with the
Justice Department for Rosenthal’s immediate removal. They are asking the
U.S. Congress’ Judiciary Committee to hold a hearing in Houston to
examine its criminal justice system. And they are planning more public
protests.
The Coalition includes pastors and politicians, as well as organizations like
the Millions More Movement, the Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement, the New
Black Panther Nation, the Harris County Green Party, the Nation of Islam Mosque
#45, the Houston Peace and Justice Center and the Black Heritage Society.
The majority working with this new coalition, however, are grass-roots people
who have never before been involved in activism. Many have family members who
have been victimized by the courts or falsely imprisoned.
As Pastor D. Z. Cofield told a recent meeting, “We are in this for the
long haul. We are serious about making systemic changes in Harris County. Join
us!”
Articles copyright 1995-2012 Workers World.
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