Latest / The People's News / ICE Agent Indicted in Houston; City Stands Up for Workers; TSU Marches to The Polls - TPN 11/1/26

Transcript

ICE Agent Indicted in Houston; City Stands Up for Workers; TSU Marches to The Polls - TPN 11/1/26 · The People's News

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: It's the week of November 1st, 2026, and this is
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  Speaker 1: what's on the People's News. Harris County DA indicts ICE
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: officer after hitting a man with a vehicle. City Hall
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  Speaker 1: fights for workers with a new ordinance. Get out the
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  Speaker 1: vote as students marching to the polls. He took a knee,
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  Speaker 1: lost millions in the process, but his fight continues. Those
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  Speaker 1: with disabilities and seniors have a right to ask for
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  Speaker 1: help at the ballot. All that and more on the
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: People's News. I'm Steve Gallington. This is the People's News,
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: and the People's News starts now. This is Steve Gallington
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: of the People's News here on Houston's community station, KPFT 90.1 FM.
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  Speaker 1: the Donate button and remember at the top of the
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  Speaker 1: page to select the drag-down list and scroll down to
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  Speaker 1: the bottom and select the People's News. An Immigration and
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: Customs Enforcement ICE agent was in pursuit of Miguel Pereira
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  Speaker 1: Hernandez when he was hit by the officer's vehicle along
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  Speaker 1: Clay Road in West Harris County. The officer was Mario
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  Speaker 1: Alberto Morales, who was indicted by Harris County District Attorney
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  Speaker 1: Sean Tehr on aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge
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  Speaker 1: as he presented in a news conference with body cam
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  Speaker 1: footage and a 911 recording.
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  Speaker 2: This morning, the grand jury of the 174th District Court
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  Speaker 2: in Harris County indicted Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officer Mario
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  Speaker 2: Alberto Morales for the second-degree offense of aggravated assault with
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  Speaker 2: a deadly weapon. namely a motor vehicle. Under Texas law,
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  Speaker 2: this is a second-degree felony punishable by two to 20
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  Speaker 2: years in prison. I'm going to briefly detail an overview
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  Speaker 2: of what transpired, and then Sheriff Gonzalez is going to
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  Speaker 2: get up and speak. This indictment is the result of
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: an intense cooperation between the Harris County District Attorney's Office
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: and the Harris County Sheriff's Office to respond to and
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  Speaker 2: investigate a tragic public safety incident. On the morning of Saturday,
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  Speaker 2: October 10th, at 16200 Clay Road, Morales struck the victim,
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  Speaker 2: Miguel Parra Hernandez, with his vehicle.
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  Speaker 3: Mr.
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  Speaker 2: Parra Hernandez has lived in Harris County for more than
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  Speaker 2: 30 years. He is a Mexican national and unauthorized. He
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  Speaker 2: has no criminal record and did not have a deportation order.
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  Speaker 2: He did not even have what's commonly called an A number,
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  Speaker 2: meaning that there was no pending immigration proceeding against him.
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  Speaker 2: Around 7.30 in the morning, Morales was driving a 2025
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  Speaker 2: Jeep Grand Cherokee. He initiated a vehicle pursuit of a
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  Speaker 2: 2011 Chevrolet Silverado driven by Mr.
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  Speaker 1: Parra Hernandez.
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  Speaker 2: According to ICE, agents were pursuing a man named Jose
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  Speaker 2: Mendoza Cervantes.
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  Speaker 3: Mr.
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  Speaker 2: Mendoza Cervantes has apparently been dead for nine years. During
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  Speaker 2: the vehicle pursuit, Parra Hernandez and another occupant fled on foot.
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  Speaker 2: What happened next? shocked our entire community. I'm going to
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  Speaker 2: share a side-by-side video. The video shows evidence that's already
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: public from a local bakery that captured Morales striking Parra
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  Speaker 2: Hernandez with his motor vehicle. The Harris County Sheriff's Office
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  Speaker 2: has obtained Morales' body camera footage. We have synced up
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  Speaker 2: the body cam footage with the existing video. I warn
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  Speaker 2: you in advance that this is graphic.
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  Speaker 4: Got a runner.
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  Speaker 3: Got a runner.
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  Speaker 1: He's running.
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  Speaker 5: On foot.
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  Speaker 1: Both of them.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah.
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  Speaker 6: He got hit with.
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  Speaker 7: A car, bro.
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  Speaker 3: He run that way, bro.
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  Speaker 8: Oh, my boy.
• 4:41
  Speaker 9: Oh, my boy.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, like I was coming in and I hit him
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  Speaker 1: with the car.
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  Speaker 2: Bringing your car this way, let's block him.
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  Speaker 9: Let's try to put him in the car.
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  Speaker 2: As you can clearly see, Morales aggressively steered his vehicle
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  Speaker 2: into Parra Hernandez. Not only did he hit Mr. Hernandez,
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  Speaker 2: he ran over both of his legs. leaving him seriously
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  Speaker 2: injured and hospitalized to this day. Morales then called 911
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  Speaker 2: to report that Parra Hernandez had hit his car. We're
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  Speaker 2: going to play portions of the 911 right now.
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  Speaker 10: Saturday, October 10, 2021. 0730 and 56 seconds.
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  Speaker 6: Harris County 911, what's your location emergency?
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  Speaker 9: Hello?
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  Speaker 11: Hello?
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  Speaker 1: Hi ma'am, how you doing?
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  Speaker 6: This is Harris County 911, what's your location emergency? The location,
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  Speaker 6: let me give it to you. It's going to be.
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  Speaker 12: What's the location, ma'am?
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  Speaker 6: This is Officer Morales with Immigration. Location is going to be.
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  Speaker 13: The Rizalda Bakery?
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  Speaker 6: Is that where you're at?
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  Speaker 10: Yeah, it's going to be 16211 Clay Road.
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  Speaker 6: Do you need ambulance or fire police?
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  Speaker 1: Ambulance.
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  Speaker 4: Okay, let me get them on the line.
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  Speaker 8: Don't hang up.
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  Speaker 6: And your first name?
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  Speaker 1: It's going to be Marius.
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  Speaker 6: Okay, tell me exactly what happened. So we're following this guy,
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  Speaker 6: trying to pull him over.
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  Speaker 8: He jumped out of the vehicle.
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  Speaker 1: I tried to get around him, and he hit my car.
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  Speaker 6: Was it vehicle versus pedestrian?
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  Speaker 4: Is that correct? Okay, gotcha. Okay, hang on just a second.
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  Speaker 4: Let me put this in real quick.
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  Speaker 6: I do have the medics already headed that way. Are
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  Speaker 6: you with him now? Yeah, I'm right here with him.
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  Speaker 3: Okay. He's fine.
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  Speaker 8: He's just complaining of pain.
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  Speaker 3: Okay.
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  Speaker 4: And how many are hurt?
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  Speaker 8: Just one.
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  Speaker 6: Just one.
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  Speaker 3: Okay.
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  Speaker 6: And how old is he? Yeah, he don't want to
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  Speaker 6: tell me. Okay, that's.
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  Speaker 14: Fine.
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  Speaker 5: Can you tell me approximately how old he is?
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  Speaker 15: Yeah, 50, 60. Okay, gotcha.
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  Speaker 12: Okay, is he awake?
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  Speaker 6: Yeah, he's fine.
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  Speaker 8: Is he breathing?
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  Speaker 3: Okay.
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  Speaker 12: Yes.
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  Speaker 4: Okay, hang on. I'm just going to ask you these
• 7:56
  Speaker 4: few questions real quick. Hang on just a second. Like
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  Speaker 4: I said, we've already got him headed that way, though.
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  Speaker 6: Okay, and confirming the vehicle involved is going to be
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  Speaker 6: your patrol vehicle. Is that correct?
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  Speaker 14: Correct.
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  Speaker 4: Gotcha.
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: I'm going to put him in my unit just because
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  Speaker 1: we already handcuffed him.
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  Speaker 4: And whenever you guys get here, we can assess him.
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  Speaker 6: Okay, all right, let me just give you this information
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  Speaker 6: real quick. Paramedics are being sent. Stay on to exactly
• 8:27
  Speaker 6: what to do next. For safety, do so. Turn your
• 8:31
  Speaker 6: flashing hazard lights, which I'm sure you've got your reds
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  Speaker 6: and blues going. For everyone's safety, tell all ambassadors to
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  Speaker 6: roll clear of approaching traffic. Don't move him unless he's
• 8:39
  Speaker 6: in danger. Don't splint any injuries. From now on, don't
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  Speaker 6: let him have anything to eat or drink. It might
• 8:44
  Speaker 6: make him sick or cause further problems. And, again, we
• 8:46
  Speaker 6: don't want to move him unless it's absolutely necessary. We
• 8:48
  Speaker 6: just need him to be still, wait for help to arrive.
• 8:51
  Speaker 6: watching very closely. If he becomes less awake and vomits quickly,
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  Speaker 6: lay him on his side.
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  Speaker 4: And if he gets worse in any way, call us
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  Speaker 4: back for further instructions.
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  Speaker 2: Before serving as district attorney, I led the division in
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: this office that prosecuted vehicular crimes. I've reviewed hundreds of cases,
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  Speaker 2: some very similar to this. The evidence that we have
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  Speaker 2: in this case is as clear as any that I've
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  Speaker 2: ever prosecuted or investigated. Before I turn this over to
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  Speaker 2: Sheriff Gonzalez, I want to emphasize the following. First, unauthorized
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: individuals who are violent felons should be deported. Second, the
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: Harris County District Attorney's Office has the utmost respect and
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  Speaker 2: admiration for law enforcement. We are, after all, a law
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  Speaker 2: enforcement agency. Third, all law enforcement officers, local, state, and federal,
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  Speaker 2: need to be properly vetted, trained and expected to follow
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  Speaker 2: generally accepted law enforcement practices. This is particularly true in
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  Speaker 2: vehicle pursuits and stops. And fourth, so long as I
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  Speaker 2: am district attorney, this office will prosecute any law enforcement
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  Speaker 2: officer who violates the law. An ICE badge does not
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  Speaker 2: give you free reign to injure, kill, or violate the
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  Speaker 2: constitutional rights of anyone. My hope is that this prosecution
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  Speaker 2: will do more than just seek justice for the Parra
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  Speaker 2: Hernandez family and Mr. Parra Hernandez. I hope that it
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  Speaker 2: also sends a loud and clear message to every ICE
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  Speaker 2: officer who feels that they have a free pass to
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  Speaker 2: terrorize our streets. The time to stop is now. And
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  Speaker 2: if you don't, you will be held accountable.
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: That was some of the press conference from Friday afternoon
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  Speaker 1: by Harris County DA, Sean Ter. He was joined by
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  Speaker 1: Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez. ISIS said that this is
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  Speaker 1: political and that agents are under federal guidelines and rules
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  Speaker 1: and not under the jurisdiction of state and local guidelines
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  Speaker 1: or laws. They also said that the actions by Harris
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: County are reckless and false and that the agent is
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  Speaker 1: on administrative leave. As of this airing, he has not
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: been arrested and is now represented by his lawyer. This
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: also raises questions about what was originally said by the agent.
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: It's Fund Drive time at KPFT. Call us and donate
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  Speaker 9: We love the people's news.
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: A new city ordinance, spearheaded by Councilmember Alejandra Salinas, requires
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: higher wages, establishes workers' compensation and health benefits, strengthens apprenticeship
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: utilization and contractor accountability, and expands worker protections for companies
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: receiving city property tax breaks. She spoke to us on
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: the ordinance just passed and the one introduced that would
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: require construction projects to submit proof of lawful waste disposal
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: after construction ends.
• 12:11
  Speaker 11: Yes, so a few months ago, the city of Cass
• 12:14
  Speaker 11: re-approved this tax abatement policy. But today, what we did
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  Speaker 11: is say, if we are going to give a tax abatement,
• 12:21
  Speaker 11: companies are going to be held to a higher standard
• 12:24
  Speaker 11: to give a better deal and better wages to workers.
• 12:26
  Speaker 11: So now it is no longer suggested and encouraged that
• 12:30
  Speaker 11: companies provide certain wages. They are required to provide prevailing wages.
• 12:33
  Speaker 11: They are required to match city wages. They are required
• 12:37
  Speaker 11: to provide health benefits. They are required to provide apprenticeship programs.
• 12:41
  Speaker 11: And these are the kind of steps to ensure that
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  Speaker 11: all Houstonians benefit if a company is going to receive
• 12:46
  Speaker 11: a tax abatement. These are policies that have been adopted
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  Speaker 11: by many of our sister cities across Texas, and it's
• 12:51
  Speaker 11: a good step in the right direction. if we are
• 12:54
  Speaker 11: going to give a tax abatement, that the whole city
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  Speaker 11: gets to benefit, not just the company at the top.
• 12:58
  Speaker 11: So today we did not make any decisions about what
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  Speaker 11: a particular tax abatement amount would be, who would get
• 13:04
  Speaker 11: a tax abatement. Again, a few months ago, we just
• 13:06
  Speaker 11: re-approved the city's ability to give out tax abatements.
• 13:10
  Speaker 16: All we did today was say, if we are going
• 13:12
  Speaker 16: to do so, these are the.
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  Speaker 11: Bare minimum requirements a company has to meet, rather than
• 13:16
  Speaker 11: just encouraging a company.
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  Speaker 16: To meet these requirements.
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  Speaker 17: I'm just speaking to the governor of Flickinger had the
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  Speaker 17: amendment about the OSHA Region 6 requirements. So just kind of,
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  Speaker 17: you know, you mentioned, you know, why that felt it
• 13:32
  Speaker 17: was run counter to what this, you know, what this
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  Speaker 17: would do. So just kind of recap.
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  Speaker 9: Why you felt that. Sure.
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  Speaker 11: So Councilmember Flickinger put forth an amendment that would have said,
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  Speaker 11: instead of saying we will not give tax breaks to
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  Speaker 11: companies that have safety violations anywhere, we would only limit
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  Speaker 11: it to companies that have safety violations in Texas, Oklahoma,
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  Speaker 11: and New Mexico.
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  Speaker 16: Now, I don't know about you, but if a company
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  Speaker 16: violates the.
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  Speaker 11: Workers' rights here or in Louisiana or New York, it
• 13:59
  Speaker 11: is still problematic.
• 14:00
  Speaker 16: And that's why no other jurisdiction has such a limitation.
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  Speaker 11: And especially here in Houston, where there's so many contractors
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  Speaker 11: that do work in Texas, but also just across the border,
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  Speaker 11: a few miles away in Louisiana.
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  Speaker 16: It would make no sense to say it's okay for them.
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  Speaker 11: To violate workers' rights in Louisiana, and they're still going
• 14:16
  Speaker 11: to get tax breaks. It's just not okay for them
• 14:18
  Speaker 11: to do it in Houston. And that's why I was
• 14:20
  Speaker 11: very grateful that my colleagues voted.
• 14:22
  Speaker 16: To not accept that amendment.
• 14:25
  Speaker 11: And the law remains as is, as it was proposed
• 14:28
  Speaker 11: by the administration, which says if you commit a safety
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  Speaker 11: violation anywhere in the United States, you are not.
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  Speaker 16: Going to get to get a tax abatement in the
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  Speaker 16: city of Houston.
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  Speaker 5: What do you say about people that say it might
• 14:40
  Speaker 5: stutter growth as far as companies coming to Houston?
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  Speaker 16: It's just not supported by the facts. These measures and
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  Speaker 16: requirements are.
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  Speaker 11: Things that Austin, San Antonio, and Dallas and other jurisdictions
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  Speaker 11: have adopted. And in those other jurisdictions, they have created
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  Speaker 11: hundreds of more jobs in the past couple years than
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  Speaker 11: we have. And so it's simply not the case that
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  Speaker 11: putting these requirements on a company is going to limit
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  Speaker 11: their willingness to apply for the abatement or to implement it.
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  Speaker 16: I was going to ask about a little dumping.
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  Speaker 1: So just you.
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  Speaker 16: And several of the council members are creating this ordinance.
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  Speaker 17: So specifically requiring businesses to have those waste management plans,
• 15:18
  Speaker 17: you know, just kind of paint for us a picture.
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  Speaker 17: What is it like now that allows companies to.
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  Speaker 18: Get away with this?
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  Speaker 11: So first of all, I want to thank my colleagues tremendously,
• 15:28
  Speaker 11: Councilmember Tarsha Jackson, Councilmember Castillo, and Councilmember Ed Pollard for
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  Speaker 11: co-sponsoring this ordinance that are going to hold companies to
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  Speaker 11: account with this waste that they create.
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  Speaker 16: So right now in the city of Houston, there are
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  Speaker 16: no requirements.
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  Speaker 11: About when you pull a permit and if you create
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  Speaker 11: construction waste, there are no requirements about how you manage it,
• 15:46
  Speaker 11: what you do with it. There's just no rules. And
• 15:49
  Speaker 11: that's not how most jurisdictions work. Most jurisdictions require someone
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  Speaker 11: that if you're going to pull a permit to engage
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  Speaker 11: in construction, you have to.
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  Speaker 16: Submit a plan. This isn't a long plan. It's a
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  Speaker 16: one-page plan, just.
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  Speaker 11: A few questions asking what kind of waste are you
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  Speaker 11: going to generate?
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  Speaker 16: How do you plan to dispose of it?
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  Speaker 11: And then on the back end, before you get your
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  Speaker 11: final stamp of approval, you just have to show the receipts.
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  Speaker 16: The receipts from the disposal site show, look, we actually
• 16:14
  Speaker 16: threw away the trash.
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  Speaker 11: That is all this plan requires. There are easy steps
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  Speaker 11: on both the front end and the back end. For
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  Speaker 11: the companies that are doing the right thing, they're already
• 16:23
  Speaker 11: taking the steps. They're just going to submit the receipts.
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  Speaker 11: For those that aren't, now they're going to be expected
• 16:27
  Speaker 11: to do so. And the other piece of this ordinance
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  Speaker 11: is it's going to provide public education materials to contractors
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  Speaker 11: to say, These are all the places you can go
• 16:36
  Speaker 11: to legally dispose of waste. And the reality is that
• 16:38
  Speaker 11: there's one neighborhood that doesn't have to look outside their
• 16:42
  Speaker 11: door and see waste that brings all sorts of horrific
• 16:45
  Speaker 11: health and safety concerns with it.
• 16:47
  Speaker 16: That is a job well done at the City of Houston.
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: That was Houston City Council Member Alejandra Salinas speaking on
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: the just-pass bill to support workers' rights and the introduced
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: bill to require proof of lawful waste disposal. It's Fund
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• 17:08
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• 17:09
  Speaker 1: We love the people's news. After Republicans in the Texas Statehouse.
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: took away voting polls on campus to try to disenfranchise
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: Democratic voters, it was allowed again at Texas Southern University.
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: Students gathered at the university center and marched to the
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: voting poll on campus at the School of Public Affairs.
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: For some, it was their first time voting. For others,
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: it has become an important habit.
• 17:55
  Speaker 13: Tell us what's going on today at Texas Southern University.
• 17:59
  Speaker 15: Yes, today we have the march to the polls with
• 18:01
  Speaker 15: over 39 organizations.
• 18:02
  Speaker 3: On TSU's campus.
• 18:04
  Speaker 9: How is it going so far?
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  Speaker 15: It is going great. I'm obviously a little bit nervous
• 18:09
  Speaker 15: because it's my event for me and external affairs and NCNW,
• 18:14
  Speaker 15: so I'm a little bit nervous because we've been spending
• 18:16
  Speaker 15: time planning it, but I'm excited.
• 18:18
  Speaker 13: How long did it take you to plan this?
• 18:21
  Speaker 15: Oh man, I don't remember.
• 18:23
  Speaker 9: How's the black.
• 18:24
  Speaker 19: Vote going on campus to try to get students on
• 18:26
  Speaker 19: Texas State University campus to come out?
• 18:28
  Speaker 15: It's been great because one thing about TSU students is
• 18:32
  Speaker 15: we work and we fight hard for our rights.
• 18:34
  Speaker 16: And for our voice to be heard.
• 18:37
  Speaker 8: And for you, how important is this election for you?
• 18:41
  Speaker 15: This is a very important election for me because this
• 18:44
  Speaker 15: ballot directly impacts the issues that we have on campus.
• 18:48
  Speaker 3: And in the area.
• 18:48
  Speaker 9: Right.
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  Speaker 19: Since the first time voting.
• 18:51
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 18:51
  Speaker 16: What's important for voting?
• 18:54
  Speaker 20: Well, the importance of voting is to get your voice
• 18:57
  Speaker 20: out there. Like, you know, that's the way how you
• 19:00
  Speaker 20: hold elected officials accountable. And for people to say that, oh,
• 19:04
  Speaker 20: my vote doesn't matter, as I said, like, if your
• 19:07
  Speaker 20: vote didn't matter, why is there so much systemic policy
• 19:10
  Speaker 20: that's being formulated and enacted to And so it starts
• 19:14
  Speaker 20: with everyone knowing that voting is part of the process.
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: It's not the only.
• 19:18
  Speaker 20: Thing, but it's one of the most important things that
• 19:20
  Speaker 20: you have to do in order to be.
• 19:21
  Speaker 16: Able to see change in the communities that you live in.
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: You mentioned the Voting Rights Act.
• 19:25
  Speaker 9: You know, they keep trying.
• 19:28
  Speaker 20: To dismantle it, dismantle it to a little of low effect.
• 19:32
  Speaker 19: But if you're not paying attention, you could be gone.
• 19:35
  Speaker 9: That's right.
• 19:37
  Speaker 20: And so, you know, it's important. that people are well-versed
• 19:40
  Speaker 20: in what's going on and having situational awareness.
• 19:43
  Speaker 18: Is what I like to say.
• 19:44
  Speaker 16: My name's Jemiah.
• 19:46
  Speaker 13: And you guys voting for the first time or you guys?
• 19:49
  Speaker 15: This is my first time voting.
• 19:50
  Speaker 7: Are you nervous?
• 19:51
  Speaker 9: A little, but I'm ready. You're ready to do it?
• 19:54
  Speaker 7: Yeah.
• 19:54
  Speaker 13: What brings you to the poll?
• 19:55
  Speaker 5: What makes you so, so?
• 19:59
  Speaker 15: We're cheerleaders and today we had to march with all
• 20:02
  Speaker 15: the students. So we came out to, you know, support
• 20:06
  Speaker 15: and show our school.
• 20:09
  Speaker 16: Go Tigers.
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: It's fun drive time at KPFT. Call us and donate
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: what you can. 713-526-5738. 713-526-5738. We love the people's news.
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: This midterm election is becoming one of the most important
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: races in the election history in the United States. As
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: early voting continues across Texas, New reporting has revealed discrepancies
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: between county turnout figures and the state's election website, following
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: a series of errors in the voter registration system that
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: delayed the processing of hundreds of thousands of records. The
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: issues are raising questions about election administration, accurate voter information,
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: and protections for eligible voters ahead of November 3rd. How
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: can we be sure that our elections are safe and fair?
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: We talked to Lewis Bedford, Policy Counsel at the Legal
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: Defense Fund, LDF. 866-687-8683 is their voter education hotline. And
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: it's free, and in many languages.
• 21:23
  Speaker 12: Well, I would like everyone to be able to know
• 21:26
  Speaker 12: that there are multiple processes in place in order to
• 21:29
  Speaker 12: be able to make sure that everyone's ballot can be
• 21:32
  Speaker 12: cast and can also be counted. But that is not
• 21:35
  Speaker 12: to say that issues at the polls will not happen.
• 21:38
  Speaker 12: We have already seen instances where voters have shown up
• 21:41
  Speaker 12: at the polling location with the appropriate ID or other
• 21:45
  Speaker 12: forms of identification in order to be able to vote,
• 21:48
  Speaker 12: but have been told that that is not acceptable. So
• 21:51
  Speaker 12: what we are asking everyone to be able to do
• 21:54
  Speaker 12: is that if they see or if they have any
• 21:56
  Speaker 12: issues at the polls, to call the 866-OUR-VOTE nonpartisan election
• 22:01
  Speaker 12: protection hotline. We are here to be able to answer
• 22:04
  Speaker 12: any questions that voters may have about their ballots, or
• 22:07
  Speaker 12: about any issues whenever it comes to their ability to
• 22:10
  Speaker 12: be able to access the voting.
• 22:13
  Speaker 13: What do you feel that early voting in the United
• 22:18
  Speaker 13: States is, how's that going so far?
• 22:21
  Speaker 12: Well, whenever it comes to early voting, the thing that
• 22:24
  Speaker 12: is most important to us is about access. Voters have
• 22:27
  Speaker 12: the opportunity to be able to choose the days in
• 22:30
  Speaker 12: which that they want to be able to show up
• 22:32
  Speaker 12: to vote. And so for Texas voters, they were able
• 22:35
  Speaker 12: to have two weeks, including one weekend, to be able
• 22:38
  Speaker 12: to have access to the polls. And one of the
• 22:40
  Speaker 12: most important things about early voting is that flexibility, the
• 22:44
  Speaker 12: fact that they can go to any voting location during
• 22:47
  Speaker 12: that early voting period. And so if there are any issues,
• 22:51
  Speaker 12: they can try again another day. But it's also very
• 22:54
  Speaker 12: important for everyone to be able to know how important
• 22:57
  Speaker 12: early voting actually is. Early voting gives you an opportunity
• 23:02
  Speaker 12: to once again access voting on a time that ends
• 23:05
  Speaker 12: up working for you, working for the voter. Because on
• 23:08
  Speaker 12: election day, anything can happen. So as it relates to
• 23:12
  Speaker 12: what we have seen during the early voting period, we
• 23:15
  Speaker 12: have seen a lot of individuals turn out, but we
• 23:18
  Speaker 12: have also seen people having questions, having questions about the
• 23:22
  Speaker 12: voter registration status, having questions about their particular polling location,
• 23:27
  Speaker 12: but also having questions whenever it comes to whether or
• 23:30
  Speaker 12: not their in-person ballot should be signed or should be
• 23:34
  Speaker 12: initialed by the election judge or the county clerk or
• 23:38
  Speaker 12: election administrator.
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: And what I would like.
• 23:40
  Speaker 12: To say about that is it is perfectly acceptable for
• 23:44
  Speaker 12: a voter's ballot to be signed or initialed by the
• 23:48
  Speaker 12: election judge or by the county election administrator whenever that
• 23:53
  Speaker 12: person wants to be able to vote. That is perfectly
• 23:55
  Speaker 12: in line with Texas Election Code law.
• 23:58
  Speaker 13: What about the intimidation that I'm hearing in some places
• 24:03
  Speaker 13: and the threat that.
• 24:05
  Speaker 19: ICE and other law enforcement may be at the polls?
• 24:12
  Speaker 12: Well, the concerns of intimidation are very real. I do
• 24:16
  Speaker 12: want to point out, though, that intimidation is illegal at
• 24:20
  Speaker 12: the state and at the federal level. And if there
• 24:23
  Speaker 12: are any instances in which a voter feels as though
• 24:25
  Speaker 12: they are being intimidated, they need to make sure that
• 24:28
  Speaker 12: they report that issue to the election judge, to the
• 24:31
  Speaker 12: county election official, or to that nonpartisan election protection hotline
• 24:36
  Speaker 12: that I just mentioned, that 866-OUR-VOTE hotline, because that intimidation
• 24:40
  Speaker 12: is illegal and it needs to be stopped as soon
• 24:43
  Speaker 12: as it happens.
• 24:45
  Speaker 19: One thing that I've seen in other countries, and I
• 24:48
  Speaker 19: can say for Canada and Great Britain, the use of polls.
• 24:54
  Speaker 19: And that seems to not take place in other countries
• 24:59
  Speaker 19: because that can affect how people.
• 25:01
  Speaker 13: Go out to vote. But see, in the United States,
• 25:04
  Speaker 13: that polls are used all the way up until Election
• 25:10
  Speaker 13: Day and even up until the closing of polls. What
• 25:15
  Speaker 13: do you say about that.
• 25:16
  Speaker 19: And can changes be made as far as changing the
• 25:21
  Speaker 19: use of polls in elections here in the States?
• 25:27
  Speaker 12: Well, whenever it comes to polling, the first thing I
• 25:29
  Speaker 12: want to be able to point out is that polls
• 25:31
  Speaker 12: do not vote. Polls express sentiment, but that sentiment is
• 25:36
  Speaker 12: not always expressed by voters whenever they go into a
• 25:39
  Speaker 12: voting booth. Voting is the way in which individuals are
• 25:43
  Speaker 12: truly able to to voice how they actually feel about
• 25:47
  Speaker 12: particular elected officials or particular ballot measures. So despite what
• 25:51
  Speaker 12: the polls may say, voting is the actual indication of
• 25:55
  Speaker 12: where voters are and how they actually feel about particular issues.
• 25:59
  Speaker 12: The second thing I want to be able to say
• 26:01
  Speaker 12: is whenever it comes to polling is that, once again,
• 26:05
  Speaker 12: polling is not the end-all, be-all, so to speak. Polling
• 26:09
  Speaker 12: only expresses sentiments. but it's ultimately up to the voters
• 26:12
  Speaker 12: and the voters themselves to be able to decide what
• 26:15
  Speaker 12: they want, how they feel, and the things that they
• 26:18
  Speaker 12: want to be able to say, which is another reason
• 26:21
  Speaker 12: why voting is incredibly important, because we need to be
• 26:24
  Speaker 12: able to have as many people have access to voting
• 26:27
  Speaker 12: as possible in order for this democracy to truly be
• 26:31
  Speaker 12: able to exist in the manner that we want it to.
• 26:35
  Speaker 19: And you see, I've seen how this election period It's
• 26:40
  Speaker 19: a tremendous amount of people that have never voted. How
• 26:45
  Speaker 19: does this differ.
• 26:46
  Speaker 13: From the last election? Because it seems like there's even
• 26:50
  Speaker 13: more people coming out this election.
• 26:52
  Speaker 12: Well, a lot of people are incredibly frustrated. Frustrated about
• 26:55
  Speaker 12: the economy. Also frustrated about the fact that states like
• 26:59
  Speaker 12: Texas have gone through a redistricting process that have actively
• 27:03
  Speaker 12: worked to disenfranchise voters. But with that, it is also
• 27:06
  Speaker 12: frustrating very important for me to be able to say
• 27:10
  Speaker 12: that maps do not vote.
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: Voters vote.
• 27:13
  Speaker 12: And that is a sentiment that we have seen time
• 27:16
  Speaker 12: and time again, that whenever voters get frustrated, they end
• 27:20
  Speaker 12: up turning out to vote. And you can see how
• 27:22
  Speaker 12: frustrated individuals are, which is the reason why early voting
• 27:26
  Speaker 12: turnout numbers have been high, not only in Texas, but
• 27:30
  Speaker 12: across the country.
• 27:32
  Speaker 19: Tell me about your organization and how to get in
• 27:34
  Speaker 19: touch with you.
• 27:36
  Speaker 12: The Legal Defense Fund was founded in 1940 by our
• 27:39
  Speaker 12: country's first black Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. If anyone
• 27:43
  Speaker 12: has any questions, please make sure that they reach out
• 27:45
  Speaker 12: to that nonpartisan election protection hotline, that 866-OUR-VOTE hotline. But
• 27:50
  Speaker 12: if they would like to reach out to the Legal
• 27:52
  Speaker 12: Defense Fund, they could go to ldf.vote. Once again, that
• 27:56
  Speaker 12: is ldf.vote to be able to receive whatever voting information
• 28:00
  Speaker 12: that they need to be able to access the polls
• 28:03
  Speaker 12: to be able to vote. and to be able to
• 28:04
  Speaker 12: make sure that they're educated on everything that they need
• 28:07
  Speaker 12: to know about the voting period and about the ballot.
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: It's Fund Drive time at KPFT. Call us and donate
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: what you can.
• 28:17
  Speaker 3: 713-526-5738. 713-526-5738.
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: We love the people's news. If you have a disability
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: of any kind or are a senior, you.
• 28:23
  Speaker 16: Have a right to ask for help casting your ballot.
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: But what is available and what is not? We've put
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: together a frequently asked questions file for accessible voting in Texas.
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: You may want to find a pen and paper to
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: jot down the info and the numbers. We hear more
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: from John Moeller.
• 28:49
  Speaker 18: For Texans with disabilities, there are a number of accessibility
• 28:53
  Speaker 18: options available to help them cast their votes. But on
• 28:57
  Speaker 18: the other hand, there's also a lot of confusion, even
• 29:00
  Speaker 18: controversy and anxiety over using these options. Aren't these things
• 29:05
  Speaker 18: supposed to make things easier, not more stressful? The contestant
• 29:10
  Speaker 18: nature of voting laws has resulted in misconceptions and hesitancy
• 29:15
  Speaker 18: among the disability community and seniors, says Lydia Nunez-Landry. Nunez-Landry
• 29:20
  Speaker 18: is involved with several disability rights and voters organizations, including
• 29:25
  Speaker 18: as the co-state coordinator for the nonprofit group Rev Up Texas.
• 29:31
  Speaker 14: Stands for Register, Educate, Vote, and Use Your Power. So
• 29:36
  Speaker 14: it's an acronym. We're a nonpartisan disability voting rights group.
• 29:42
  Speaker 14: And our mission is to empower disabled people and their
• 29:46
  Speaker 14: families and friends to be civically engaged, to be informed voters.
• 29:52
  Speaker 18: Having spent years registering and educating disability voters and seniors
• 29:56
  Speaker 18: on their rights and options, she probably has a better
• 29:59
  Speaker 18: idea than almost anyone else about what questions these voters
• 30:03
  Speaker 18: have and what misunderstandings need to be addressed. So, here's
• 30:08
  Speaker 18: the Frequently Asked Questions file for accessible voting in Texas,
• 30:12
  Speaker 18: 2026 Midterms Edition.
• 30:16
  Speaker 14: I've come across people who said, well, I, you know,
• 30:19
  Speaker 14: the line was really long and I couldn't stand up anymore. Um,
• 30:24
  Speaker 14: and I like, that's one of the things we educate
• 30:27
  Speaker 14: them about. Well, as a disabled voter, you get to
• 30:30
  Speaker 14: go to the front of the line. Or another question is, um, well,
• 30:34
  Speaker 14: I need assistance for whatever reason, and I'm not sure
• 30:37
  Speaker 14: what to do about that. Well, you can have an
• 30:40
  Speaker 14: assister of your choice. It can be a family member.
• 30:43
  Speaker 14: It can be a poll worker. It can't be an
• 30:47
  Speaker 14: agent of a union and you can't be paying someone
• 30:51
  Speaker 14: to help you vote or they're paying you type of
• 30:54
  Speaker 14: thing or your employer. One of the biggest confusions I've
• 30:59
  Speaker 14: come across lately when I'm doing the Abilities Expo, I
• 31:03
  Speaker 14: have people rolling up in their power wheelchairs or walkers
• 31:07
  Speaker 14: and they're like, well, I don't have a doctor's note
• 31:09
  Speaker 14: stating I'm disabled. or I haven't been determined disabled by
• 31:15
  Speaker 14: the Social Security Administration.
• 31:17
  Speaker 3: I'm like, no, you don't need a doctor's note.
• 31:23
  Speaker 14: Proving that you have a disability or a determination from
• 31:28
  Speaker 14: Social Security. If you're disabled and you need assistance, you're allowed.
• 31:33
  Speaker 3: To receive that assistance.
• 31:37
  Speaker 14: And no one's allowed to question you about your disability.
• 31:43
  Speaker 14: The last election, we had some people who went to
• 31:48
  Speaker 14: vote curbside and.
• 31:50
  Speaker 3: The election official questioned them as to.
• 31:52
  Speaker 14: Whether they really needed this and scared them and they
• 31:56
  Speaker 14: drove off scared. And so we have to educate people
• 32:00
  Speaker 14: about their rights. You know, like for instance, you're eligible
• 32:06
  Speaker 14: for curbside voting. if for some reason you're unable to
• 32:11
  Speaker 14: enter the polling location or if.
• 32:13
  Speaker 3: You're 65 and older.
• 32:17
  Speaker 14: And the same goes with mail-in.
• 32:20
  Speaker 3: Ballot in Texas, that is. It's different in other states.
• 32:26
  Speaker 14: Another issue I commonly face is briefly during the.
• 32:32
  Speaker 3: Height of the pandemic, and I don't remember what year
• 32:34
  Speaker 3: that was exactly.
• 32:35
  Speaker 14: But maybe 21 or something, In certain counties, we had
• 32:40
  Speaker 14: what was called drive-through voting. And drive-through voting and curbside
• 32:46
  Speaker 14: voting are two entirely different things. When we did have
• 32:51
  Speaker 14: drive-through voting, which we don't anymore, it was available to everyone,
• 32:56
  Speaker 14: and they did away with that. And so that was
• 32:59
  Speaker 14: put in the newspapers and whatnot, you know. And so
• 33:02
  Speaker 14: a lot of disabled people thought that meant that we
• 33:05
  Speaker 14: no longer have curbside voting. And I've had to educate people, no,
• 33:12
  Speaker 14: we still have curbside voting, although in this last legislative session,
• 33:18
  Speaker 14: they've passed an oath that you have to sign stating
• 33:23
  Speaker 14: that you're not physically able to make it into– polling
• 33:28
  Speaker 14: location to vote. And so I'm telling people, don't let
• 33:31
  Speaker 14: that frighten you away from curbside voting if you need that,
• 33:35
  Speaker 14: you know, because obviously it's some people, you know, I
• 33:41
  Speaker 14: have a friend who is undergoing cancer treatment and with
• 33:45
  Speaker 14: COVID and the flu, you know, they are kind of
• 33:49
  Speaker 14: afraid to leave their house at certain times of the
• 33:51
  Speaker 14: year to go.
• 33:52
  Speaker 3: To do stuff. And so, you know, it can be available.
• 33:56
  Speaker 14: For someone who has some, you know, deficiency issues or
• 34:00
  Speaker 14: someone who has mobility impairments or other types of disabilities
• 34:05
  Speaker 14: or chronic illnesses. And also about who can transport them
• 34:09
  Speaker 14: to the polls.
• 34:12
  Speaker 3: If it's six or.
• 34:13
  Speaker 14: More people that you're transporting, you have to sign.
• 34:18
  Speaker 3: An oath in Texas.
• 34:20
  Speaker 18: So I have a lot of questions.
• 34:21
  Speaker 9: About that, too.
• 34:23
  Speaker 18: Nunez Landry also urges we make a voting plan. Firm
• 34:27
  Speaker 18: up arrangements how we'll get to the polls. Find out
• 34:30
  Speaker 18: what ID we'll need. Bring a helper if needed. A
• 34:34
  Speaker 18: great place to start is RevUpTexas.org. R-E-V-U-P-T-E-X-A-S dot O-R-G. Click
• 34:44
  Speaker 18: Voting Resources at the top or go to the bottom
• 34:48
  Speaker 18: of the homepage for useful links. Check your voter registration,
• 34:53
  Speaker 18: polling place location, finder sample ballot, including lesser known races
• 34:59
  Speaker 18: and ballot questions at the League of Women Voters 411,
• 35:03
  Speaker 18: all linked there. Finally, if you have problems while voting
• 35:07
  Speaker 18: in person, take along the Disability Rights Texas voter hotline number, 888-796-8683.
• 35:18
  Speaker 18: They have operators in English, Spanish, Arabic, Vietnamese, and other languages.
• 35:25
  Speaker 3: I think it's so important to vote right now.
• 35:27
  Speaker 14: Because we are at risk of losing 50 years of
• 35:30
  Speaker 14: disability rights. They're taking disabled children out of the most
• 35:35
  Speaker 14: integrated settings in schools, and they're putting them back in
• 35:38
  Speaker 14: these segregated schools where they just have disabled kids. I mean,
• 35:43
  Speaker 14: everything that, like, Bob Kafka worked for and ADAPT and
• 35:47
  Speaker 14: Judy Heumann and, you know, Brad Lomax and Diane Coleman
• 35:53
  Speaker 14: and just you know, all of our kind of heroes
• 35:55
  Speaker 14: in the disability community, the things that they fought for us,
• 35:59
  Speaker 14: we're at risk of losing those things right now. Part
• 36:03
  Speaker 14: of nothing about us without us is being civically engaged
• 36:07
  Speaker 14: in voting and paying attention to what's going on. I
• 36:11
  Speaker 14: think if you're a patriot and you love your country
• 36:15
  Speaker 14: and you love the United States and you believe in
• 36:18
  Speaker 14: the Constitution and in disability rights and civil rights, If
• 36:23
  Speaker 14: you want those things to continue, we have to work
• 36:27
  Speaker 14: for them.
• 36:28
  Speaker 3: We have to fight for them.
• 36:29
  Speaker 18: For KPFT People's News, this is John Moeller reporting.
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: It's Fund Drive time at KPFT. Call us and donate
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: what you can.
• 36:40
  Speaker 3: 713-526-5738. 713-526-5738.
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: We love the People's News! He chose to fight injustice
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: rather than stay quiet and make millions. He took a
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: knee in protest of African Americans being abused by the police.
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: Colin Kaepernick played at the highest level in his field
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: of football in the United States National Football League. He
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: was part of the team that won the Super Bowl
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: in 2012. He became famous as he kneeled during the
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: playing of the U.S. National Anthem prior to games throughout
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: the 2016 preseason season. and regular season as a protest
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: against police brutality and racial inequality in the United States.
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: He was punished by the league and he never played again,
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: as no team would pick him up after filing as
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: a free agent. He also lost millions in endorsements and
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: NFL pay for his stand. He co-founded a non-profit, Know
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: Your Rights, and started a publishing company geared toward children.
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: It has been over a decade since the protest, and
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: he is still active in social justice issues. He talked
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: about what he went through in his new book, The
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: Perilous Fight, released this past September. He spoke in Houston
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: during a book tour stop.
• 38:00
  Speaker 8: So for context, for those of you who don't know,
• 38:05
  Speaker 8: I'm adopted into an all-white family. So both my parents
• 38:08
  Speaker 8: are white, my brother and sister are white. I was adopted,
• 38:12
  Speaker 8: born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, adopted in Wisconsin. and then moved
• 38:16
  Speaker 8: to Central California, which, Central California, there.
• 38:20
  Speaker 9: Is not a whole lot of black folks out there.
• 38:24
  Speaker 8: I think Turlock at that point in time, when I
• 38:26
  Speaker 8: was growing up, was somewhere between like three and five
• 38:29
  Speaker 8: percent black. Now, it creates a unique dynamic where I
• 38:37
  Speaker 8: know my parents love me, and I know they support me.
• 38:40
  Speaker 9: They were gonna try to do what was best for me.
• 38:43
  Speaker 9: But also, part of that is what's.
• 38:46
  Speaker 8: Best for me in their mind is assimilating into them,
• 38:52
  Speaker 8: into our family, which is counter to who I am
• 38:56
  Speaker 8: and culturally who I am. And I had to navigate
• 39:00
  Speaker 8: that from a young age. And I didn't have, and
• 39:04
  Speaker 8: have black mentors around me to be able to give
• 39:06
  Speaker 8: me insight on, hey, when they're trying to get you
• 39:11
  Speaker 8: to cut your hair, like, You're navigating politics of respectability.
• 39:16
  Speaker 8: You're navigating Eurocentric beauty standards. You're navigating all these things
• 39:22
  Speaker 8: that I didn't know at that point in time.
• 39:23
  Speaker 9: I was just like, I know this doesn't feel right.
• 39:27
  Speaker 9: And it doesn't feel like it at all. with who
• 39:30
  Speaker 9: I am.
• 39:32
  Speaker 8: So from an early age, I knew I had to
• 39:34
  Speaker 8: fight for my blackness. Otherwise, it was going to be erased.
• 39:38
  Speaker 8: It was going to be pushed away. And that was
• 39:40
  Speaker 8: everything from hair to music to culture and how I showed.
• 39:45
  Speaker 9: Up in the world. But it also.
• 39:50
  Speaker 8: lay the foundation where I think it made me stronger
• 39:54
  Speaker 8: later because.
• 39:55
  Speaker 9: I had already had to fight those battles from an
• 39:57
  Speaker 9: early age.
• 39:59
  Speaker 12: Yeah, man.
• 40:00
  Speaker 5: I was thinking about the way I grew up, and
• 40:03
  Speaker 5: I grew up.
• 40:05
  Speaker 9: With a guy named Paul Wall.
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: You all heard of him, right?
• 40:07
  Speaker 9: What it do, baby? It's the Heist, man.
• 40:10
  Speaker 3: Paul Wall.
• 40:11
  Speaker 21: Yeah, so in our neighborhood, the only people that was
• 40:17
  Speaker 21: white and we hung around with Paul Wall and his family.
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: That was it, you know?
• 40:20
  Speaker 21: But he, I remember these moments where it's like the
• 40:24
  Speaker 21: first time he got braids.
• 40:26
  Speaker 9: I was like, man, bro, you can't do that. Your
• 40:28
  Speaker 9: mom's not gonna like this, man.
• 40:29
  Speaker 21: And I remember the look on her face when he
• 40:32
  Speaker 21: walked in with them braids.
• 40:33
  Speaker 5: I felt like she thought that me and my brothers were.
• 40:35
  Speaker 21: Like turning him into some evil black person or something,
• 40:39
  Speaker 21: you know? But it was always just little dynamic of like, man,
• 40:43
  Speaker 21: understand your blackness, and then you feel like you've got
• 40:45
  Speaker 21: to kind of assimilate a little bit to make people comfortable,
• 40:49
  Speaker 21: because that thing is scary for people sometimes.
• 40:51
  Speaker 16: And, you know, he's a person that's had a lot
• 40:53
  Speaker 16: of appreciation for the black, you know, community.
• 40:55
  Speaker 21: Like, I know this is going to be a little
• 40:57
  Speaker 21: bit blunt, but he's like one of them white boys
• 40:59
  Speaker 21: that I think never said the N-word.
• 41:01
  Speaker 3: Right?
• 41:02
  Speaker 16: Now, that's to this day.
• 41:04
  Speaker 18: Like, me and him got into problems.
• 41:06
  Speaker 21: I was feeling like the reason why me and him
• 41:08
  Speaker 21: could still be cool to this day, because I know
• 41:09
  Speaker 21: that he revered black folks in a way that you should, right?
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: To deal with.
• 41:15
  Speaker 21: I noticed that there was moments that mirrored my life
• 41:18
  Speaker 21: where you had these, you know, traumatic things that happened
• 41:21
  Speaker 21: with race when you were younger.
• 41:23
  Speaker 18: You had experience with the police officers that, you know,
• 41:26
  Speaker 18: I had.
• 41:26
  Speaker 21: I remember one time me and Paul got pulled over
• 41:28
  Speaker 21: and he was the white guy in the car and
• 41:29
  Speaker 21: he had to speak for all of us, you know?
• 41:32
  Speaker 21: And we got out there clinging and he was talking
• 41:34
  Speaker 21: crazy to the police and we was like, bro, you know,
• 41:36
  Speaker 21: like he can do that.
• 41:37
  Speaker 5: We can't.
• 41:38
  Speaker 21: So talk about some of those dynamics, because I don't
• 41:41
  Speaker 21: want to give away the book, but there's a little
• 41:42
  Speaker 21: bit of some of the stuff that you alluded to
• 41:44
  Speaker 21: in the book that you were dealing with.
• 41:45
  Speaker 11: At an early age.
• 41:48
  Speaker 8: One of the things, one of the reasons I think
• 41:51
  Speaker 8: those are important to be able to highlight in the
• 41:52
  Speaker 8: book is a lot of questions I got post-protest.
• 41:58
  Speaker 9: It's like, well, you're good. You're an NFL quarterback. You
• 42:03
  Speaker 9: got money. Why do you care about this? What do
• 42:06
  Speaker 9: you know about this?
• 42:07
  Speaker 8: And I think it's important to realize where you end
• 42:12
  Speaker 8: up is not where you started. And your success and
• 42:18
  Speaker 8: your net worth are not gonna change your interactions with police.
• 42:23
  Speaker 8: It's not gonna change how society thinks about you. We
• 42:32
  Speaker 8: aren't gonna buy our way out of racism and white supremacy.
• 42:35
  Speaker 8: So I think it's important to be able to highlight
• 42:38
  Speaker 8: those moments and then be able to figure out how
• 42:40
  Speaker 8: we navigate those.
• 42:42
  Speaker 9: And that does show up, shows up.
• 42:44
  Speaker 8: Directly in our communities, in our neighborhoods, where I had
• 42:49
  Speaker 8: to navigate that, just very real attacks.
• 42:53
  Speaker 9: You also have to navigate it with police.
• 42:57
  Speaker 8: But what comes out the other side of that, as
• 43:00
  Speaker 8: we have a better understanding of why that is happening,
• 43:04
  Speaker 8: then leads to.
• 43:05
  Speaker 9: Well, what actions can we take to change it?
• 43:08
  Speaker 8: And I think that becomes the important inflection point in it,
• 43:13
  Speaker 8: is not just accepting it for what it is, but
• 43:16
  Speaker 8: getting into a space of understanding we actually can change
• 43:19
  Speaker 8: this and we have the power to change it.
• 43:23
  Speaker 5: So pivoting a little bit, I want to touch on
• 43:26
  Speaker 5: one of the things that's been really frustrating for me
• 43:29
  Speaker 5: because there's this conversation about, I remember you were doing
• 43:34
  Speaker 5: a lot of talking. And people seem to get frustrated
• 43:39
  Speaker 5: with some of the things you were saying, not aligning
• 43:42
  Speaker 5: with the way they might have felt. And then there's
• 43:46
  Speaker 5: a moment where, in people's perception, you went quiet.
• 43:51
  Speaker 2: Right?
• 43:51
  Speaker 5: So then people are upset because you're not talking to them.
• 43:54
  Speaker 19: Right?
• 43:55
  Speaker 9: And that resonates with me because I feel like I
• 43:58
  Speaker 9: was doing that.
• 43:58
  Speaker 5: At some point I was talking, there was a moment
• 44:00
  Speaker 5: where I was going around doing interviews, and even 50
• 44:03
  Speaker 5: Cent said I need to go preach or something like that.
• 44:04
  Speaker 5: Everybody started preaching too much. And then I just stopped talking,
• 44:08
  Speaker 5: and everybody's just like, well, why don't you talk more?
• 44:09
  Speaker 9: Your voice is more needed, you know?
• 44:11
  Speaker 5: So I'm wondering, what are people getting wrong about the
• 44:15
  Speaker 5: timing and the way you choose to communicate your message?
• 44:22
  Speaker 9: So I think there's a few pieces within that.
• 44:25
  Speaker 8: One, when I first started protesting in 2016, one part
• 44:30
  Speaker 8: that people don't understand is as a starting quarterback in
• 44:34
  Speaker 8: the NFL, you are required to talk to media three
• 44:38
  Speaker 8: times a week. That was happening prior to 2016.
• 44:45
  Speaker 9: The questions were just different.
• 44:48
  Speaker 8: So when the questions were, hey, how do you feel
• 44:51
  Speaker 8: about the defense you're going to be playing this week?
• 44:54
  Speaker 8: You know, how do you feel about this matchup? Do
• 44:57
  Speaker 8: you have any special plays for them this week?
• 45:00
  Speaker 9: People love it. I get it.
• 45:03
  Speaker 6: Give us more of that.
• 45:04
  Speaker 9: We want to hear that.
• 45:06
  Speaker 8: Once the conversation shifted to police need to stop killing
• 45:09
  Speaker 8: black folks, there's an idea. Nah, don't say that. Don't
• 45:15
  Speaker 8: talk about that. We don't want to hear that conversation.
• 45:19
  Speaker 8: That was controversial. Which, I also want to take a
• 45:23
  Speaker 8: moment and just pause on that point. What culture and
• 45:31
  Speaker 8: what environment do we live in that's saying police shouldn't
• 45:35
  Speaker 8: kill black people is controversial?
• 45:38
  Speaker 3: Like, what....
• 45:47
  Speaker 8: And also, what does that say about the people that
• 45:49
  Speaker 8: close it? Those are the questions that should be asked. Now,
• 45:57
  Speaker 8: on the back of that, in 2017, What I realized
• 46:03
  Speaker 8: was a lot of the conversations that were attempted to
• 46:05
  Speaker 8: be had in the media space, one, a lot of
• 46:08
  Speaker 8: them weren't in good faith. It was just, we're trying
• 46:11
  Speaker 8: to get the clicks. We're trying to get the views.
• 46:12
  Speaker 8: We're trying to get the headlines. Some people try to
• 46:15
  Speaker 8: launch careers off of this.
• 46:17
  Speaker 3: And it's like.
• 46:18
  Speaker 8: Understand what you're trying to do, but that's not my goal.
• 46:21
  Speaker 8: My goal is how do we advance as a people?
• 46:24
  Speaker 8: So I was much more focused on the work that
• 46:27
  Speaker 8: we were doing Directly in communities whether that was to
• 46:30
  Speaker 8: know your rights know your rights camp whether that was
• 46:33
  Speaker 8: partnerships in communities Just doing the direct work as opposed to.
• 46:37
  Speaker 9: Just talking about it.
• 46:39
  Speaker 8: Yeah the other part that was important in that moment
• 46:42
  Speaker 8: is I I also realized that there was an attempt
• 46:47
  Speaker 8: to try to make me the solar central figure of
• 46:51
  Speaker 8: the movement. And I just don't think that's the appropriate
• 46:55
  Speaker 8: place for one individual to be. And I think about
• 46:58
  Speaker 8: this through the lens of Ella Baker, who said something
• 47:02
  Speaker 8: to the effect of, we don't only need strong leaders,
• 47:06
  Speaker 8: we need strong people. And it collectively has to be
• 47:11
  Speaker 8: us doing the work. And I could have stepped into
• 47:15
  Speaker 8: every space and done every interview. And it could have
• 47:18
  Speaker 8: been the Colin show across everything. But that's not what
• 47:23
  Speaker 8: it should be. We need more of our voices front
• 47:26
  Speaker 8: and center. And how we create space and opportunity for
• 47:29
  Speaker 8: each other to be able to step up into that.
• 47:31
  Speaker 8: So that as we're doing the work and moving forward,
• 47:34
  Speaker 8: we have more prominent voices across our community that are
• 47:38
  Speaker 8: pushing us forward as opposed to just a sole voice.
• 47:41
  Speaker 8: So I think that's an important piece.
• 47:42
  Speaker 9: Of it as well.
• 47:44
  Speaker 8: And the last part is a lot of the conversation
• 47:48
  Speaker 8: that we're having now is one, how do we move
• 47:51
  Speaker 8: forward from this point and the work that we have.
• 47:53
  Speaker 10: To get done?
• 47:55
  Speaker 8: But two, also correcting a lot of the false narratives
• 47:58
  Speaker 8: that have been pushed. And that's one area that I
• 48:02
  Speaker 8: think in being so focused on the work over the
• 48:04
  Speaker 8: last 10 years has allowed some of those to try
• 48:08
  Speaker 8: to take root or mislead people. And being able to
• 48:13
  Speaker 8: correct those so people have the truth and reality of
• 48:15
  Speaker 8: those situations, again, hopefully it becomes an experience that allows
• 48:20
  Speaker 8: them to be able to move forward better as well.
• 48:22
  Speaker 9: I wanted.
• 48:26
  Speaker 3: To add.
• 48:26
  Speaker 9: I have a lot of thoughts around this. Well, I
• 48:30
  Speaker 9: think there's two things that were happening at the same time.
• 48:33
  Speaker 8: I think this is where some of the lines became blurred,
• 48:36
  Speaker 8: and I tried to make a distinction here.
• 48:40
  Speaker 11: One is.
• 48:41
  Speaker 8: People supporting the movement and the action of the protest,
• 48:45
  Speaker 8: fighting against police brutality, fighting against systemic oppression, and there
• 48:50
  Speaker 8: was huge movements around.
• 48:52
  Speaker 9: That and we all saw.
• 48:56
  Speaker 8: The second part of this is in the NFL's response
• 49:00
  Speaker 8: to us fighting against police brutality and them inserting themselves
• 49:07
  Speaker 8: and blackballing me and targeting other players that were protesting
• 49:12
  Speaker 8: led to people boycotting the NFL, which ran in parallel
• 49:16
  Speaker 8: with the protests against police brutality.
• 49:19
  Speaker 9: So two things were happening at the same time.
• 49:22
  Speaker 8: That in many ways people started to view as one.
• 49:28
  Speaker 8: Now the conversation of people jumping ship, I've seen this
• 49:32
  Speaker 8: show up a few different ways. A lot of times
• 49:37
  Speaker 8: it is personal benefit and personal interest. I have gotten
• 49:42
  Speaker 8: to a place where I look at.
• 49:44
  Speaker 9: These people's incentives.
• 49:47
  Speaker 8: That is the best indicator in relation to the actions
• 49:51
  Speaker 8: that they are going to take. And most people I
• 49:54
  Speaker 8: have found, not all, but most people are incentivized by
• 49:59
  Speaker 8: personal gain. And if you look at what do they
• 50:04
  Speaker 8: have to gain by taking the action or jumping ship
• 50:07
  Speaker 8: or aligning with someone else, oftentimes it is either power
• 50:11
  Speaker 8: or it's money.
• 50:13
  Speaker 9: That they're looking for. So I've seen a lot of that.
• 50:17
  Speaker 9: The other part that I've seen is.
• 50:20
  Speaker 8: People also, they want to have a guilty conscience for
• 50:26
  Speaker 8: not supporting the movement more broadly or not continuing to
• 50:30
  Speaker 8: take actions that are in support of And I understand
• 50:34
  Speaker 8: people have different things that they're focused on. The part
• 50:38
  Speaker 8: that I don't agree with within that is if you
• 50:42
  Speaker 8: have personal interests, by all means, go pursue them. Just
• 50:46
  Speaker 8: be honest about why you're going to pursue them. Don't
• 50:49
  Speaker 8: try to distort or blur the lines in that approach.
• 50:56
  Speaker 1: The event was put on by Black Independent Bookstores and
• 51:00
  Speaker 1: Class Bookstore. Colin can be found at Kaepernick7puttogether. com, and his
• 51:05
  Speaker 1: book can be found at ClassBookstoreAllPuttogether.com. It's Fund Drive time
• 51:12
  Speaker 1: at KPFT. Call us and donate what you can.
• 51:15
  Speaker 3: 713-526-5738. 713-526-5738.
• 51:16
  Speaker 1: We love the people's news! Cities around Texas have been
• 51:27
  Speaker 1: getting rid of or in talks to cancel contracts using
• 51:31
  Speaker 1: flock cameras. Flock cameras have been used by law enforcement
• 51:35
  Speaker 1: to stop crime, but they have also been used on
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: numerous occasions illegally by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to stop
• 51:44
  Speaker 1: and detain people of suspected immigration violations. Here on the
• 51:48
  Speaker 1: People's News, we reported about flock cameras at a Home
• 51:52
  Speaker 1: Depot store which caused a key witness in a shooting
• 51:57
  Speaker 1: at a Home Depot parking lot to be detained by
• 52:00
  Speaker 1: ICE before HPD was able to arrive. League City is
• 52:06
  Speaker 1: the latest city to leave it up to the voters
• 52:09
  Speaker 1: whether or not to remove the cameras. In Houston, Harris
• 52:12
  Speaker 1: County Commissioner's Court voted to form a committee to see
• 52:16
  Speaker 1: what to do with the flock cameras. Many have cited
• 52:20
  Speaker 1: safety and using it as a tool, But there are
• 52:23
  Speaker 1: looming privacy issues on who has control and access to
• 52:27
  Speaker 1: the cameras. County Commissioner Leslie Briones says she has had
• 52:32
  Speaker 1: enough and was getting rid of the remaining cameras in
• 52:34
  Speaker 1: Precinct 4.
• 52:36
  Speaker 7: So the bottom line for me is we have heard
• 52:39
  Speaker 7: serious concerns from the community. We have read and seen
• 52:44
  Speaker 7: serious concerns and they keep rising, not only in our region,
• 52:49
  Speaker 7: but across the country. And we have listened, we have
• 52:53
  Speaker 7: taken executive action, we have decommissioned the Precinct 4 cameras
• 52:58
  Speaker 7: that are in Precinct 4 facilities and parks, and Precinct
• 53:02
  Speaker 7: 4 is pulling out of the contract. Now, public safety
• 53:07
  Speaker 7: is my number one priority, not only as a mom
• 53:10
  Speaker 7: of three, as someone who's been the victim, but public safety,
• 53:13
  Speaker 7: part of public safety is privacy protection. And so how
• 53:17
  Speaker 7: do we maximize the benefit of this tool? Because it
• 53:20
  Speaker 7: is a useful tool. We have seen numerous incidents where
• 53:23
  Speaker 7: it's helped. How do we maximize the public safety benefit
• 53:26
  Speaker 7: while mitigating and minimizing the risk to our communities? And
• 53:31
  Speaker 7: that is what I want to achieve. And the more,
• 53:34
  Speaker 7: and this is now the lawyer former judge hat, the
• 53:37
  Speaker 7: more I delve into the provisions of the contract, the
• 53:41
  Speaker 7: more uncomfortable I am. because there's a lot of loopholes
• 53:45
  Speaker 7: and broad language that I don't feel comfortable with on
• 53:48
  Speaker 7: behalf of my precinct four constituents, which we are actively
• 53:52
  Speaker 7: listening to and actively partnering with. So I think they
• 53:56
  Speaker 7: are and can be a useful tool. And we need
• 54:00
  Speaker 7: to always have checks and balances, transparency and accountability. And
• 54:04
  Speaker 7: that is what we need to balance. So there's, to me,
• 54:07
  Speaker 7: two key levers. And again, we've already taken action, decommissioned
• 54:11
  Speaker 7: the cameras, pulling out of the contract. But on a
• 54:14
  Speaker 7: go forward, what I think would be most protective and
• 54:17
  Speaker 7: helpful for the public safety broadly defined of our community,
• 54:21
  Speaker 7: one is we need clear, consistent policies and procedures. Who, what, when, where, why?
• 54:26
  Speaker 7: Who has access, to what degree, when, for how long,
• 54:30
  Speaker 7: and for what? So I know our sheriff, my team
• 54:33
  Speaker 7: and I, we have been in active communication with Sheriff
• 54:36
  Speaker 7: Gonzalez and with the constables that we work with closely,
• 54:40
  Speaker 7: Constable Herman, Constable Allbritton, who help protect our parks and
• 54:45
  Speaker 7: community centers, they want a unified policy. They want to
• 54:50
  Speaker 7: be able to have these checks and balances and they're
• 54:53
  Speaker 7: working on it, but we don't have that yet. And
• 54:56
  Speaker 7: then there's the contract, which the provisions need tightening even further.
• 55:01
  Speaker 7: And I want to thank the county attorney's office because
• 55:03
  Speaker 7: they did spend months tightening it, right? This is a
• 55:06
  Speaker 7: better contract than back in 2022, 2023 in the past,
• 55:08
  Speaker 7: but there's still, and I will not bore you with
• 55:12
  Speaker 7: each of the provisions in the language that I find troubling.
• 55:15
  Speaker 7: But the bottom line is, is we have to maximize
• 55:17
  Speaker 7: the benefits while mitigating the harms. And I don't feel
• 55:20
  Speaker 7: comfortable based on where we are with the information that
• 55:23
  Speaker 7: we have been digging and digging and digging. And I
• 55:25
  Speaker 7: want to thank my team because they have reached out
• 55:27
  Speaker 7: to Flock. They have been in direct communication to try
• 55:31
  Speaker 7: to bird dog and get answers. They have been actively
• 55:34
  Speaker 7: in communication with our constable partners and our sheriff partners.
• 55:38
  Speaker 7: And I especially want to thank Sheriff Gonzalez, Constable Herman,
• 55:40
  Speaker 7: Constable Albritton, because they want to work together. Because I
• 55:43
  Speaker 7: agree with you, Judge, we want to be best in class.
• 55:46
  Speaker 7: Harris County needs to be leading for all the right
• 55:48
  Speaker 7: reasons and lead by example. But in the meantime, and
• 55:51
  Speaker 7: I know my colleagues who have cameras, they may be
• 55:54
  Speaker 7: responding to their constituents who may feel differently. But for
• 55:57
  Speaker 7: Precinct 4, I've heard you loud and clear. I share
• 56:00
  Speaker 7: your serious concerns and we are taking action and we'll
• 56:03
  Speaker 7: continue to take action until we together find this appropriate balance.
• 56:07
  Speaker 7: But I see those two levers are the policies and procedures.
• 56:11
  Speaker 7: And then part of that is an independent audit. And
• 56:14
  Speaker 7: then the other part is tightening the contract. And together
• 56:18
  Speaker 7: as a community, we need it because the ALPRs are
• 56:21
  Speaker 7: one piece. But when we think of technology generally and
• 56:25
  Speaker 7: AI and where we're going with it, this brings up
• 56:28
  Speaker 7: much broader questions for all of us to be wrestling
• 56:32
  Speaker 7: with and digging into together. But the bottom line is,
• 56:34
  Speaker 7: is we need to continue making Harris County as safe
• 56:36
  Speaker 7: as possible. But part of safety is making sure that
• 56:39
  Speaker 7: all people from all communities and all backgrounds feel safe.
• 56:43
  Speaker 7: And I've been very troubled by the incidents we've seen.
• 56:46
  Speaker 7: Everyone from KDPD to Texas City to our own sheriff's office.
• 56:50
  Speaker 7: And we need to have accountability and we need to
• 56:53
  Speaker 7: find a way to do the both and. But until then,
• 56:56
  Speaker 7: we've taken action, decommissioned the cameras, precinct force out.
• 57:02
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