Jackson Lee Asks Holder to Probe Houston Police, Single-Race Juries

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) called on Attorney General Eric Holder today to investigate a Houston case in which a police officer was acquitted last month in the alleged beating of a 15-year-old burglary suspect.

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She asked Holder to investigate whether the Houston Police Department has engaged in a “pattern or practice” of civil rights violations, and asked the DoJ to investigate single-race juries.

Andrew Blomberg, 29, was accused of kicking suspect Chad Holley, who claims he didn’t resist officers, during a March 2010 arrest. He was the first of four officers to stand trial in the incident, which was caught on video by a security camera.

“It is a travesty that in this day and age incidents like this are still occurring. Is this Houston’s Rodney King moment? I certainly hope not,” Jackson said.

Holley, now 18, is black, Blomberg is white, and the jury was all white. Holley was convicted of burglary in October 2010 and put on probation.

“Chad Holley and his family deserve a fair and just federal civil rights investigation,” Jackson said. “I have written the Department of Justice asking for a complete investigation of not only the Chad Holley Case but also single race juries. We must not allow the actions of some HPD officers to become the image of the entire department.”

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