LOCAL NAACP MIGHT JOIN TULIA RACIAL PROFILING SUIT

The Amarillo chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People will ask its national leaders to allow the chapter to join a
lawsuit against Swisher County officials, president Alphonso Vaughn said
Tuesday night.

Vaughn spoke during a rally at Amarillo's Black Historical Culture Center
in support of Tulia residents affected by a large drug sting operation and
subsequent convictions of about 40 black Tulia residents.

"The significance of this meeting is to let you know that justice still has
not been served," Potter County Commissioner Iris Lawrence said.

A lawsuit filed Friday in Amarillo by the Texas affiliate of the American
Civil Liberties Union alleges that undercover agent Tom Coleman, Swisher
County Sheriff Larry Stewart and District Attorney Terry McEachern
conspired to violate the civil rights of Tulia blacks.

McEachern and Stewart both have denied the allegations previously.

Coleman was the lone officer who conducted the 18-month drug sting
operation. The worth of Coleman's word was in dispute during the trial of a
24-year-old Tulia man who ultimately received a 60-year prison term.
Although described by some as an excellent lawman, others challenged his
character.

Amarillo attorney Jeff Blackburn filed the lawsuit on behalf of his client,
Yul Bryant, a man who Blackburn said protested his innocence for seven
months before the charge was dropped and he finally was released from jail.

"I disagree with (Lawrence). The reason we're here tonight is because
justice will be served," Blackburn said.

The lawsuit asks for $1 million in actual damages and $1 million in
punitive damages from each of the three being sued.

The Amarillo NAACP chapter conducted its own investigation into the drug
cases, Vaughn said. The NAACP contacted Swisher County officials and
examined court documents and trial transcripts.

"It is perceived that there were discrepancies in the testimony from the
so-called undercover agent," Vaughn said. "There are at least three
instances where we perceived perjured testimony."

About 50 Tulia residents attended the rally, many of whom were transported
by buses chartered by the William Moses Kunstler Fund for Racial Justice in
New York.

"We're not going to let anything stop us," Tulia resident Mattie White
said. "We're going to fight this."