Pubdate: Sun, 28 Sep 2003 Source: Washington Post (DC) Page: A18 Copyright: 2003 The Washington Post Company Contact: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491 Author: Associated Press Note: MAP has archived over 500 Tulia news clippings. To see earlier clippings change the date range in the Power Search at the bottom of the page at this link: Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/tulia.htm (Tulia, Texas) AGENT IN TULIA DRUG BUSTS SAYS RACE PLAYED NO ROLE LUBBOCK, Tex., Sept. 27 - A former undercover agent who faces perjury charges related to his part in the racially charged drug busts in Tulia says he is proud of what he did and is no racist, despite using a racial epithet "a lot." The epithet is "common slang" and "a greeting," Tom Coleman tells CBS's "60 Minutes" journalist Ed Bradley in Sunday's telecast. But he tells Bradley, who is black, that he would not use the racial slur with him. "Oh, no sir, not you," Coleman says, according to a news release from the show. Thirty-eight people, almost all of them black, were convicted on Coleman's testimony after the 1999 drug busts in Tulia, a Texas Panhandle town of about 5,100 residents 70 miles north of Lubbock. Authorities found no drugs or money during the 46 arrests there. Last month, Gov. Rick Perry (R) granted pardons to 35 of those convicted. Civil rights groups allege the arrests were racially motivated. Coleman is white. The interview, conducted at Coleman's home this summer, has drawn the interest of the special prosecutor in his perjury case. Rod Hobson said Friday he plans to seek a subpoena for the entire interview - not just what is aired - as possible evidence. Coleman, 44 and no longer in law enforcement, was indicted in April after testimony he gave at post-trial hearings this spring. He has been interviewed at least twice before, with an Amarillo television station and the BBC. "He did nothing inappropriate, and we'll prove that," Coleman's attorney, John H. Read II, said. In the interview, Coleman said he stands behind his work. "I didn't intentionally target anyone in Tulia. It turned out that way. It's just where the road led me." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake