Protests Against Police Brutality (1977)

Duration: 0:30

Year Published: 1977

Sound: sound

Description: This unedited footage from Houston’s KPRC-TV captures protesters outside the Houston Police Department headquarters on May 16, 1977. Carrying picket signs reading “Protection not police brutality” and “Stop the war against Chicano people,” the demonstrators were protesting the police-involved death of José Campos Torres. Torres, a 23-year-old Mexican American and Vietnam War veteran, drowned on May 8 after six officers assaulted him and pushed him into Buffalo Bayou. Following public outcry, Houston Police Chief B. G. “Pappy” Bond created the department’s Internal Affairs Division on May 16.