Robbie Tolan, who was shot by a Bellaire police officer in 2008, was surrounded by his parents, pastors, two members of Congress and about 100 cheering supporters Monday, at a press conference with his new attorney, Benjamin Crump.
Crump contended that Tolan and his cousin had done nothing wrong in the early morning hours of Dec. 31, 2008 before they were pulled over by Bellaire police for what he termed “driving while black.”
Crump is a high-profile civil rights Florida lawyer who represented the family of Trayvon Martin in their lawsuit against George Zimmerman. The Tolan family hired Crump in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court decision in their favor last week.
The Supreme Court ruled that Tolan’s civil lawsuit against Bellaire Police Lt. Jeffery Cotton was unconstitutionally dismissed by the federal district court and the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, without adequately weighing evidence presented by Tolan.
At the two-hour press conference to introduce Crump, U.S. Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee and Al Greene said they will ask the U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to direct the Justice Department to reopen a federal civil rights investigation of the Tolan case. They also urged a crowd of people at the Power Center, a community center in south Houston, to demonstrate in front of the federal district courthouse downtown to urge that Tolan’s case go to trial.
The Power Center is affiliated with Pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell, a respected Houston civil rights leader and pastor of Windsor Village United Methodist Chrch. The Tolans are members of that church.
Crump and others said that the young Tolan was “a sacrificial lamb,” who could become “a civil rights icon” in the case , which Crump characterized as an effort to end racial profiling by police officers.
Crump contended that Tolan and his cousin, Anthony Cooper, were wrongly stopped for allegedly driving a stolen car — when Bellaire police officer John Edwards inadvertently entered the wrong license plate number for their vehicle into his patrol car’s computer. Crump repeatedly suggested that the stolen vehicle was a different model Nissan than the sport utility vehicle driven by Tolan.
Tolan was shot in the driveway of his Bellaire home — while his parents watched — after Cotton, who is white, responded to officer Edwards’ report about a stolen vehicle. Cotton, then a sergeant in the Bellaire Police Department, fired three shots including one bullet that hit Tolan in the chest and lodged in his liver.
Tolan and his family say his injuries have presented him from following in his father’s footsteps and playing major league baseball.
Crump repeatedly described the Tolan family as “a model family.”
“If this can happen to you, none of us are safe,” Crump said.
“It’s not just about that happened six years ago. It is still happening today,” Crump said. “We’ve got to address the issue of police shooting our brothers.”
Green and Lee told community leaders that they will try to get the Justice Department to take another look at whether Tolan’s civil rights were violated in the case.
A Harris County jury in 2010 found Cotton not guilty of aggravated assault by a public servant. Shortly after that, the Tolan family filed a civil lawsuit against both Bellaire officers, Bellaire’s police chief and mayor, and others.
The lawsuit was dismissed in 2012 by U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon, who granted a summary judgment in the city’s favor.
Lawyers for the city of Bellaire said last week that the Supreme Court’s ruling would not affect the outcome of the case. “They simply quarrel with the procedure that the court of appeals utilized to reach a determination,” said attorney William Helfand. “Judge Harmon’s opinion is quite sound.”
Lee urged those in attendance at the press conference to “peacefully protest” in front of the federal courthouse in downtown Houston, to urge that Tolan’s case go before a federal jury.
“Every day, there should be somebody in front of the courthouse with a sign,” Lee said. “We want a new trial.”
A member of the House Judiciary Committee, Lee stressed that she supports law enforcement officers.
“I want it to be clear of the respect we have in our community for law enforcement,” Lee said.
TJ Snograss says
All written below is how I feel based on what I have read:
Robbie’s Mom was the disruption and the cause. If there is any racist in this entire group its her. She Interfered with the police. She caused her son to be shot. Shouting obscenities and causing a commotion. Too bad she could not be cool, and smart. If she had, then Robbie would not have been shot. A good mother looks after her sons safety. A good son rises to his mothers defense. She is not a good mother. Robbie is a good son. She will carry that to her grave. She knows she is the cause of all this. Her racist chip on the shoulder went ballistic. Police officers make mistakes. I never trust the police but I respect them because they carry a badge and weapons.Too bad Bobbie could not control his wife for 15 minutes. He will carry that to his grave as well. Robbie was a good kid, I hear. Too bad he is now hanging out with the community organizers and useless Jackson-Lee.
Terry Brown says
So they hired the looser lawyer in the Travon case. Dummies. They’d have been better off hiring the winner, Zimmerman’s lawyer. Also, why hasn’t mouthpiece QX been arrested for making a terrorist is threat against the city of Belaire? Idiots all.
White Male says
Wow, the two comments above are incredibly disgusting and obviously racist. Thanks for proving the case that racism is still a real problem, it would appear even more obvious his civil rights were violated based on all the racist comments coming out of Bel Aire.