The Tulia Outrage July 23, 2009

by Will

Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

July 23, 2009

Ten years ago today, police officers and federal DEA agents swarmed Tulia, Texas. By the end of the day, 47 people, all of them black and poor, were under arrest on suspicion of drug dealing.

Eventually, nearly all of the defendants were either acquitted or pardoned, and taxpayers were saddled with a $5.9 million settlement arising from the case.

At the heart of the Tulia scandal was undercover narcotics officer Tom Coleman, who spun wild tales about a large and sophisticated drug syndicate in the tiny town. A corrupt cop wanted for theft, Coleman was the sole material witness in the investigation. The case eventually fell apart amid Coleman?s self-contradictions and disclosure of his tainted background.

The Feds funded Coleman?s multi-jurisdictional drug task force and covered up for him as long as they could. In many ways, the Tulia scandal is a perfect microcosm of the malignant fraud called the war on drugs.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.

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