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Pubdate: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 Source: Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (TX) Section: Front page Copyright: 2001 The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal Contact: http://www.lubbockonline.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/841 Author: Dirk Fillpot Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/tulia.htm (Tulia, Texas) FREEDOM RIDE HITS TULIA On Anniversary Of Drug Bust, Town Keeps Up Cry For Justice TULIA - About 300 people helped celebrate an anniversary Sunday for Billy Wafer. Wafer was among 43 people - 40 of whom are black - arrested July 23, 1999, during a drug sting operation that has been widely contested as illegal and a violation of civil rights. The 7th Court of Appeals in Amarillo dismissed the drug charge against Wafer in January. "It's an extraordinary moment for Swisher County. It's amazing," he said. "We're celebrating that we were able to make an impact on the world out of our misfortune." Friends of Justice, the NAACP and the American Civil Liberties Union organized a Freedom Ride, which began Saturday night in Austin and carried civil rights leaders, drug police reform activists and victims of the drug war to Tulia. The ride included a stop at the prison near Plainview where one of the defendants is imprisoned. People listened to music and poetry readings, played basketball and ate hamburgers and hot dogs as they waited for the speakers to take the stage. The rally was to conclude with an 11 p.m. march to the Swisher County Courthouse for a candlelight vigil. The rally was peaceful Sunday afternoon. Police occasionally circled the block, and about 35 officers, including a Department of Public Safety riot team, waited at police headquarters. Charles Kiker, treasurer of the Tulia organization Friends of Justice, said the 1999 sting operation in his town exemplifies why the country's war on drugs is misdirected. "Tulia is an extreme example, but it's not atypical. The war on drugs all over the country is a war on poor people, and that tends to be people of color," Kiker said. Amid the controversy following the operation, the town formed a chapter of the NAACP. "This gathering hopefully will open people's eyes to the war on drugs. The problem with the war on drugs is that officers don't need corroboration," said Freddie Brookins, president of the Tulia NAACP chapter. "It's been happening throughout America, but until the sting operation here in Tulia, they were able to cover it up. The operation here took so many where it causes you to stop and look at it and see what the real picture is." Brookins' youngest son was among the 43 people arrested during the sting and is sitting out a 20-year sentence. Brookins has doubts, however, about whether his son committed the crime. "My son wasn't in town when the officer stated he sold him the drugs," he said. The 1999 arrests were based on an 18-month undercover investigation by officer Tom Coleman, who worked alone and used no surveillance equipment. A lawsuit has been filed against Coleman, Swisher County Sheriff Larry Stewart and Swisher County. The suit alleges that officers "conspired to carry out Swisher County's policy to eliminate the county's African-American population." Coleman, who was honored as Outstanding Lawman of the Year following the bust and currently resides near Waxahachie, declined comment Friday. The sheriff and Swisher County District Attorney Terry McEachern, who prosecuted the cases, have denied allegations of racial bias. The U.S. Justice Department is conducting an investigation into the undercover operation. An FBI agent based in Amarillo said Friday that the investigation could wrap up in about a month. Ezra Teter, 22, took the Freedom Ride from Austin to attend the rally and to learn more about the bust. He said he sides with those who challenge Coleman's investigation. "I think that he is the perpetrator of everything," he said. "I'm furious the U.S. appeals court hasn't thrown out all of the sentences from the sting operation." Wafer filed a civil rights suit claiming racial discrimination led to the arrests. Officials in Tulia have defended the sting operation. The lawsuit remains pending. Teter said he disapproves of the country's war on drugs, of which his father, imprisoned several times for drug offenses, is a victim. "I don't like the fact that they're taking my dad, who's an addict, and putting him in jail. I think he should be treated as an addict, not a criminal," he said. Some audience members advertised different viewpoints on the drug issue, but Brookins said they all had something in common. "We know that the drug war needs reforming," he said. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth