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On May 5, 1977, Houston Police officers arrested an Army veteran named Jose Campos Torres in a bar on Houston's East End. On the way to the city jail, the police officers stopped along the banks of Buffalo Bayou and beat Torres. Later, when they tried to book the injured 23-year-old Vietnam veteran, other officers told them he had to be treated at the hospital first. Instead, the officers took Torres back to the bayou, beat him again, and pushed him into the water. Torres couldn't swim and drowned. His body was found on May 8, 1977. After a state trial, the officers involved were given probation and fined $1 each. A federal civil rights trial in 1978 ended with short sentences for some of the officers.
Resentment over the lenient sentences turned to anger on May 7, 1978. A crowd had gathered at Moody Park for Cinco De Mayo celebrations. A fight broke out and when police arrived, the crowd turned on them. Police cars were overturned and local businesses were looted and burned. More than a dozen people were injured and 40 rioters were arrested.
In the aftermath of the Jose Campos Torres murder and the Moody Park Riot, the Houston Police Department hired more minority officers and established an internal affairs division. Thirty years later, the Echoes of Moody Park can still be heard.
Special thanks to KHOU, Channel 11 and retired police officer Nelson Zoch for their help on this series.
