Riots on Scott - Night Film, 08/17/67: Police officers and firefighters respond to a civil disturbance around Scott Street in southeast Houston. On August 17, gas station operator Rule Scott shot Leon Perry Jr. in the right leg after Perry allegedly attempted to rob him. While Perry was not fatally injured, rumors began to spread around the predominantly African-American neighborhood that a white man had killed a black man. Amid the high racial tension, rioters set a series of fires in the area in retaliation. Flames engulfed the gas station and a nearby grocery store. 

Press conference with Houston Mayor Louie Welch and Police Chief Herman Short

Riots - Welch 2am Conference, 08/17/67: Mayor Welch describes how the community aided police in containing the incident, while Chief Short explains the origin of the initial disturbance

Riots on Scott, 08/17/67

Riots - Welch Press Conf., 08/17/67

Riot Fires - Chief Clooney, 08/17/67: A KPRC newsman speaks with District Fire Chief J. P. Clooney about the kind of fire

TSU Riots, 05/17/67: TSU students and KPRC reporters wait outside the Harris County jail to greet those released from police custody on May 17. Officers had arrested 488 students earlier that day as part of the so-called TSU Riot. 

One student demands an investigation into the Houston Police Department, while another calls the officers "honkies," a pejorative term for white people. 

At a press conference, Mayor Welch expresses his support in Chief Short's judgment and describes what he plans to do to quell any further unrest 

Chief Short raises suspicions of outside agitators

TSU Demonstration, 03/28/67: Reverend Frederick Douglass Kirkpatrick leads students in a song during a campus protest as Texas Southern University. In March 1967, the University dismissed the Friends of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee as an on-campus organization and fired its faculty adviser, Mack Jones. Students launched a week of protests in response. Kirkpatrick was a graduate student and co-chairman of Friends of SNCC. 

Interview with Mack Jones about his dismissal from TSU and what he plans to do next

The man on the megaphone is possibly Millard Lowe, Kirkpatrick's Friends of SNCC co-chairman

TSU Protest, 11/08/67: An unidentified man rebuffs testimony blaming TSU students for the destruction caused during the TSU Riot. Between the gunfight and police raid, the incident resulted in some $30,000 in property damage to the Texas Southern University campus. United Press International reported that Houston police broke down some doors with fire axes and shot the locks off others to reach students barricaded inside a dormitory. Firing between 3,000 and 5,000 rounds of ammunition, officers also shot out nearly every window along the residence hall's north side.

TSU Demonstration, 03/28/67: Silent news footage from the protest on TSU campus. In an attempt to shut down the university, students barred the doors of academic buildings with pieces of lumber to prevent others from attending class. After the barriers were removed, some 175 demonstrators moved to blockade Wheeler Avenue, a campus-bisecting thoroughfare.

Jones addresses the students protesting on his behalf

TSU Riot Scrap, 05/17/67: Chief Short oversees the police raid of Lanier Dormitory and arrest of several hundred TSU students in the early morning hours of May 17. Following an extended campus blockade on the night of May 16, Houston police officers converged on Lanier Dormitory after students allegedly began throwing debris at police cars. A squad of 60 to 70 riflemen proceeded to exchange gunfire with individuals barricaded inside the residence hall, advancing infantry-style in 20-yard increments. Officers raided the dormitory four hours later, finding one shotgun, three rifles, and two Molotov cocktails. While most students conceivably did not participate in the violence, officers arrested nearly all of the hall's residents -- 488 in total. Many were transported to jail still wearing their pajamas.

Chief Short comments on the event's portrayal in a commission report

Ceremony honoring the service of rookie patrolman Louis Kuba, who was fatally shot during the TSU Riot. While the press almost immediately accused an as-yet-unidentified TSU student as the likely sniper, coroner and ballistics reports ultimately determined that Kuba had been killed by a .30-caliber bullet -- the same caliber used by Houston police.  

Kuba's widow 

Future US Senator Lloyd Bentsen presents an award

TSU Student Trial Riot: A civil rights attorney comments on the charges filed against the "TSU Five" in connection to the TSU Riot. Of the 488 arrested, only five students were charged: Charles Freeman, Trazawell Franklin, Douglas Waller, John Parker, and Floyd Nichols. Only Freeman went to trial.

TSU/SDF Students Trial, 07/25/67: An unidentified man, possibly TSU Dean of Students James B. Jones, warns university deans of students to think about their role in creating as well as solving problems on campus. Jones made the decision to oust Friends of SNCC, which started the campus demonstrations. With the state legislature already considering a cut to TSU's budget, he reasoned that too much support for the activist group would jeopardize the university's funding. 

TSU Trial Hearing, 07/25/67: An attorney for Charles Freeman comments on the case against his client and the possibility of a change of venue. District Judge Wendell Odom  moved the case to Victoria on April 29, 1968, upon the request of Harris County District Attorney Carol Vance and the Houston Bar Association. Following the denial of further change of venue requests by the defense, the trial took place between October 28 and 30. On October 31, after nine hours of deliberation, the all-white jury informed the judge that they were deadlocked. Judge Kelly ultimately dropped the charges against all five defendants in June 1970 due to insufficient evidence. Judge Odom dropped the remaining charges of inciting a riot in November.