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Quanell X, Black Panthers protest at Bellaire PD
  
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By MEGAN COOPER
Shouting allegations of racial profiling and flat-out bigotry, activist Quanell X led a protest on the steps of the Bellaire Police Department Tuesday afternoon (Jan. 6) to decry the Dec. 31 police shooting of 23-year-old Robbie Tolan.
“We have come here collectively today — activists, pacifists, ministers against crime and other organizational leaders — to make a strong point,” he said. “Quanell X, an African-American community activist. “What we want to say is that the shooting of Robert Tolan is absolutely unjustified, not necessary, and he was a victim of the worst case and the worst kind of racial profiling.”
The protest, which lasted only about 20 minutes, was organized by the Houston chapter of the New Black Panther Party, with Quanell X at the forefront.
Tolan, a resident of the 800 block of Woodstock Street for nearly 15 years, was shot in his front yard by Sgt. Jeff Cotton at about 2 a.m. upon returning from a fast food run with a relative. According to Bellaire police officials, Cotton was working backup on a call of a stolen vehicle and mistakenly believed unarmed Tolan to be the perpetrator.
Bellaire police officials made no comment during Tuesday’s protest. Bellaire police officers were not stationed at the scene, nor did they interfere with the protest in any way.
“They’re exercising their right to free speech,” said Assistant Chief Byron Holloway before the protest. “They have a legitimate right to do what they were doing."
Aside from about 20 members of the New Black Panther party, the vast majority of persons who gathered at the protest were members of the media.
A very small group gathered in support of the protest. Among them was Jackie McLean, 24, who said she was born and raised in Bellaire.
“I’m here in support of the protest,” she said. “I think the Bellaire Police Department has had a history of being extremely racist and horrible.”
She said her grandmother, who is Puerto Rican, has claimed to have been a repeated victim of racial profiling in Bellaire.
“She gets stopped by Bellaire police all the time just because she is a Hispanic woman driving a Mercedes,” McLean said. “I think it finally took something this bad to catch people’s attention, and something does need to be done about it.”
Other Bellaire residents disagreed. Thomas Henderson, 19, called the protest “Black Panther target practice.”
“I really think (the Black Panthers) are just turning an honest mistake into a full-blown civil rights battle, just to get their point across,” Henderson said. “They’re making Bellaire look like a racist community, and that’s just not true.”
“We have come here collectively today — activists, pacifists, ministers against crime and other organizational leaders — to make a strong point,” he said. “Quanell X, an African-American community activist. “What we want to say is that the shooting of Robert Tolan is absolutely unjustified, not necessary, and he was a victim of the worst case and the worst kind of racial profiling.”
The protest, which lasted only about 20 minutes, was organized by the Houston chapter of the New Black Panther Party, with Quanell X at the forefront.
Tolan, a resident of the 800 block of Woodstock Street for nearly 15 years, was shot in his front yard by Sgt. Jeff Cotton at about 2 a.m. upon returning from a fast food run with a relative. According to Bellaire police officials, Cotton was working backup on a call of a stolen vehicle and mistakenly believed unarmed Tolan to be the perpetrator.
Bellaire police officials made no comment during Tuesday’s protest. Bellaire police officers were not stationed at the scene, nor did they interfere with the protest in any way.
“They’re exercising their right to free speech,” said Assistant Chief Byron Holloway before the protest. “They have a legitimate right to do what they were doing."
Aside from about 20 members of the New Black Panther party, the vast majority of persons who gathered at the protest were members of the media.
A very small group gathered in support of the protest. Among them was Jackie McLean, 24, who said she was born and raised in Bellaire.
“I’m here in support of the protest,” she said. “I think the Bellaire Police Department has had a history of being extremely racist and horrible.”
She said her grandmother, who is Puerto Rican, has claimed to have been a repeated victim of racial profiling in Bellaire.
“She gets stopped by Bellaire police all the time just because she is a Hispanic woman driving a Mercedes,” McLean said. “I think it finally took something this bad to catch people’s attention, and something does need to be done about it.”
Other Bellaire residents disagreed. Thomas Henderson, 19, called the protest “Black Panther target practice.”
“I really think (the Black Panthers) are just turning an honest mistake into a full-blown civil rights battle, just to get their point across,” Henderson said. “They’re making Bellaire look like a racist community, and that’s just not true.”
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