Family and friends of 29-year-old Jalen Randle, dressed in white and red commemorative t-shirts bearing his name, said they would continue to protest each month by organizing different events in the hope that charges would be brought against the HPD Agent Shane Privette.
The family has heard nothing new from city officials or HPD Chief Troy Finner, according to Jalen’s father, Warren Randle.
“They want people to forget,” Randle said of preserving her son’s memory. “That’s typical police behavior. They want what’s happening in Houston swept under the rug.
Randle encouraged protesters to speak their minds at the polls and continue to spread information about the incident online in an effort to support not only his family, but all those who have lost loved ones in violent incidents in the law enforcement.
“We have to keep this up to date because the police want you to fall asleep on this. They want to put this to bed and they want to change the narrative.
Although a Harris County medical examiner’s autopsy released June 8 showed Randle had been shot in the back of the neck, an independent autopsy contracted by the family a week after the shooting revealed conflicting results showing that Randle had been shot in the neck.
A public meeting was originally scheduled with law enforcement officials and representatives from the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, but had to be moved due to Finner contracting COVID-19, Randle added.
Harris County District Attorney’s Office officials could not be reached for comment Saturday afternoon.
Asked about Saturday’s march, an HPD spokesperson said the investigation was ongoing and referred to the June 7 statement released by Finner in response to the incident.
“The incident is being fully investigated by the HPD’s Special Investigations Unit, Internal Affairs Division and the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, and the entire investigation will be reviewed by the independent counsel of police oversight,” Finner said. “As with all shooting incidents involving an officer, the Harris County prosecutor will present the completed investigation to a grand jury.”
Privette hadn’t finished yelling at Randle to show his hands when he fired a shot as he tried to serve a warrant on April 27, according to handheld camera footage. on the body published by HPD at the end of May.
“Oh shit,” Privette said in the video, reacting instantly to the gunshots. He remains in administrative service a little more than two months since the incident.
Protesters chanted the phrase toward HPD officers who looked both inside the department building at the corner of Dallas and Travis streets and outside on the sidewalk.
Julia Morgan, Jalen’s aunt, has heard agreement from members of the local law enforcement community who believe Privette was wrong.
“There are officers who are with us, but unfortunately they can’t even tell what they know to be the truth,” Morgan said, adding that the issue is not racial but those in power. responsible. “At the end of the day, it’s about good and bad. You have people in government positions who have been doing the wrong thing for so long and too often they get away with it.
joel.umanzor@chron.com