The candlelight vigil and speak-out hosted by the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) heard a range of speakers express their outrage at the January 20 killing of Torres in what Baytown cops called routine police procedure.

A construction worker and resident immigrant from Mexico, Torres was visiting his family in Baytown when he had an acute attack of high blood pressure. Relatives called an ambulance, but Baytown cops were called when Torres fled from medical technicians.

Participants in the meeting viewed a copy of the cruiser dashboard tape of the incident, which showed Torres calmly shaking one cop's hand. A second cop then approached and the two wrestled Torres to the ground. Loud cries of pain could be heard from Torres as they restrained him.

"This was not an accident," said Houston NAACP executive director Yolanda Smith. "It was a deliberate attempt to violate his human rights."

Local chairman of the National Black United Front, Kofi Taharka, pointed to the 1977 drowning of Joe Campos Torres, who was beaten by Houston cops and thrown into a bayou. Taharka said not a lot has changed since then. Others pointed to the 1998 killing of Pedro Oregón who was shot 32 times by Houston cops.

Several days earlier, in an interview with the Houston Chronicle, Mexican Consul General Enrique Buj Flores said, "We are not utterly fools, and know sometimes there are acts of excessive force against Hispanics simply because they are Hispanic."

Harris County medical examiner Joye Carter ruled Torres's death a homicide resulting from mechanical asphyxiation, explaining this means that someone compressed his airways so that he could not breathe.

No illegal drugs or alcohol were found in his system, but the cops claim Torres appeared intoxicated. Capt. Jack Erickson, of the Baytown police, excused the killing by saying, "They could later be held responsible if that person were hit by a car or hurt somebody else."

Chairing the meeting, LULAC communications director Johnny Mata invited those in attendance to participate in an upcoming march that would demand justice be done in this case. The officers involved have been placed on paid administrative leave.

A statement issued by Anthony Dutrow, Socialist Workers Party candidate for Congress in the 18th district, pointed to the role of the cops in this and other similar incidents.

"The cops feel that with the recent war in Afghanistan and the anti-immigrant attacks in the name of the so-called war against terrorism, they have been given the green light to harass, beat, and use deadly force such as this against working people. My campaign demands these cops be prosecuted for this brutal murder."  
 
 
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