When Angela Andrade was growing up, the story of Santos Rodriguez was a cautionary tale. Her family members would detail how 12-year-old Rodriguez and his 14-year-old brother were dragged from their home in Dallas’ old Little Mexico neighborhood and thrown into a Dallas Police Department vehicle. The details still haunt…
Dallas police will no longer be allowed to fire “less lethal” weapons into crowds nor use tear gas to herd peaceful protesters on city streets, police Chief U. Renee Hall announced Wednesday morning. The chief issued a general order restricting the use of the weapons as anger continues to simmer…
Amid weeks of protests over police brutality, a poll released Tuesday shows that a majority of Texans support law-enforcement reform. The poll, which was conducted by Progress Texas and Public Policy Polling, showed that 73% of respondents agree police brutality is a “serious or somewhat serious problem.” Ed Espinoza, executive…
Amid weeks of demonstrations sparked by the death of George Floyd, a coalition of community activists and faith leaders who marched through the streets of Dallas is now looking to promote “policies to support the protest.” One of the coalition’s main goals is to reallocate police funding into historically underfunded…
On the night of April 19, 2017, 15-year-old Jordan Edwards was in a car driving away from police officers when he was shot in the back of the head. Officer Roy Oliver, who was responding to a call about underage drinking, killed the Balch Springs high schooler with an AR-15…
On Saturday afternoon, as Independence Day celebrations were getting started in backyards across Dallas, about 40 people gathered in Klyde Warren Park. Protesters stood holding signs that read “Say Their Names” and “Black Lives Matter” as the afternoon sun beat down on them. “Many Black people are not connected to…
This week, the Dallas Police Department modified its general orders to allow the release of videos from officers’ body cameras within 72 hours of critical incidences. On Thursday, panelists discussing justice and the Black Lives Matter movement said this change is a step in the right direction but that there…
Brandon Saenz didn’t feel the projectile hit him. He heard a sound — “a boom,” he says — and a moment later he saw blood dotting his shoes and the pavement beneath them. “‘Whose blood is that?’” Saenz, 26, remembers thinking. “‘Oh, it’s mine.’” Saenz was walking by a group of peaceful protesters…
Kevin Tarver wants justice. Months before the world learned the names George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks and Breonna Taylor, Denton police shot and killed his son Darius. A 23-year-old University of North Texas student, Darius Tarver was a criminal justice major and on the dean’s list. He was part of the…
From 1956 to 1971, the FBI actively tried to subvert civil rights and New Left movements through often illegal means. Among its many targets were activist groups in North Texas. The name of the project was the Counter Intelligence Program, which was syllabically abbreviated to COINTELPRO. Most of the FBI’s…
Even in the blistering heat, people turned out in Reverchon Park on Saturday for the 16th day of protests in Dallas against police brutality. The event, organized by local nonprofit Next Generation Action Network, was dubbed a Black State of Emergency. Organizers urged attendees to vote, discussed defunding the police…
On the evening of June 1, hundreds of protesters left a rally at the Frank Crowley Courts Building, just outside the city’s curfew zone, and marched north on Riverfront Boulevard. They carried signs calling for justice for George Floyd, a black man killed last month by a Minneapolis police officer,…
Wednesday morning, after dozens of players, teams and leagues stepped out first, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott decided it was time to speak out about the death of George Floyd and the relationship between police and the black communities they are supposed to serve. “As a Black Multiracial American, I…
At least John Cornyn has an excuse. President Donald Trump has never implied that the Texas senator’s wife was ugly, or that his dad helped kill John F. Kennedy, as he has with Cornyn’s Senate colleague and fellow Republican Ted Cruz. Still, it’s been a little surprising how quickly Texas’ senior…
Dallas is expanding the area covered by a curfew order, city officials announced Tuesday afternoon. The newly expanded curfew zone includes Trinity Groves and West Village. It also now includes the Frank Crowley Courts Building, where a demonstration began Monday evening, and the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, where police detained…
Chief U. Renee Hall on Tuesday morning defended the police department’s handling of a protest that ended in a mass detainment Monday night on the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge. During the demonstration, police allowed hundreds of protesters to march into the westbound lanes of the bridge at about 8:30 p.m…
A peaceful protest in Dallas against police brutality ended with hundreds of demonstrators, their hands zip-tied behind their backs, being detained by police on the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge. As they laid on their stomachs waiting for instructions, one protester yelled repeatedly, “We can’t win!” A last-minute change Monday night…
Dallas police are investigating incidents in which police officers used force against two people Sunday, putting both people in the hospital. Both incidents occurred on Main Street in downtown Dallas during Sunday’s protest against police brutality. The first incident happened at 4 p.m. near Pegasus Plaza. The second was at…
While Dallas initially saw peaceful protests turn into violence, arrests and a curfew around downtown, the weekend ended with a vocal but placid march downtown. Clergy members from throughout Dallas gathered with residents in front of Dallas Police headquarters starting at 5 p.m. Sunday. The crowd bowed their heads as…
A Tarrant County grand jury has indicted former Texas Rangers star outfielder Josh Hamilton for injury to a child causing intentional bodily injury, a third-degree felony, the Observer confirmed Wednesday afternoon. Hamilton is accused of attacking his oldest daughter in September. He turned himself in after initially being charged in late…
Three and a half years after stepping down as chief of the Dallas Police Department, David Brown has been named to lead Chicago’s police force. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Brown’s selection Thursday afternoon. “We are Chicago and we deserve the best,” Lightfoot said. “In this time, in this moment,…
A Dallas County grand jury has indicted two Dallas County Sheriff’s Office deputies who are accused of looting a Home Depot on Forest Lane in Dallas following the Oct. 20 tornado that destroyed the home improvement store and much of the surrounding area. Owners of the Home Depot hired Sgt. Rebecca…
