A.C.L.U. HEAD MEETS WITH TULIA RESIDENTS TO COMMEMORATE NATIONAL DAY OF PROTEST

On a national day of protest against racially motivated police misconduct,
the head of the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas met with residents
in Tulia on Sunday to commemorate the day.

"Tulia, Texas, symbolizes everything that tens of thousands of people
around this country are protesting today," said Will Harrell, executive of
the Texas branch of the ACLU headquartered in Austin. "It was a meeting,
not a march or anything, to convey what's happening nationally."

More than 50 residents signed up to form a Tulia chapter of the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People on Saturday in response
to the 1999 arrests of 40 black people following an 18-month narcotics
investigation. Only three whites were arrested in the operation.

The NAACP and the ACLU have filed a joint complaint with the U.S.
Department of Justice this month alleging civil rights violations.

That complaint follows a lawsuit filed by the ACLU with the cooperation of
Amarillo attorney Jeff Blackburn on behalf of one of the suspects arrested
in the drug sting.

"We are waiting for the government to answer," Harrell said. "It is a
pretty complex legal strategy involving filing future criminal, civil and
administrative filings."

Harrell wrote a fiery statement for the occasion, denouncing a lack of
evidence corroborating the testimony of undercover agent Tom Coleman in the
1999 arrests. It also attacks Coleman's character and reliability with a
variety of claims. He noted Coleman's last employer, Cochran County Sheriff
Kenneth Burke wrote a letter to the agency that licenses peace officers in
which Burke said, "It is my opinion that an officer should uphold the law.
Mr. Coleman should not be in law enforcement."

Coleman agreed to pay almost $7,000 in restitution for misusing gasoline
and funds belonging to Cochran County and charges of theft and abuse of his
official position were dropped.

"If I did not 100 percent believe Tom Coleman was telling the truth, I
would not be trying these cases," District Attorney Terry McEachern said
earlier.

Harrell said the statement may have been read at gatherings around the nation.

"The national coordinating committee passed it on to read at the rallies
and have a moment of silence observed," he said. "From the information I
have gotten, it was read in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago."

The racial tension has polarized the community with various factions
holding rallies and meetings in the past months. Of the 43 arrests during
the sting, one suspect was Hispanic and two white. The lightest sentence in
the cases was five years probation while one man, on probation for
drug-related charges at the time of the sweep, was sentenced to 434 years
in prison.

Housing the prisoners was estimated to cost about $230,000 by Swisher
County Judge Harold Keeter. That forced a 5.8 percent increase in property
taxes this year.