An Uber driver has been arrested in the June death
of Houston pastor Rev. Ronald K. Mouton Sr. of East
Bethel Missionary Baptist Church.
Mouton was shot and killed during a possible road
rage incident on the Gulf Freeway at Gould Road on June
24.
According to the Harris County District Clerk’s
Office, Deshawn Longmire, 23, has been charged with
murder and is currently being held in Harris County
Jail.
Witnesses said they saw Longmire, who was driving
for Uber in his black Honda sedan with peeled window
tint, arguing with Mouton, who was driving a white BMW,
at a stoplight on the Gulf Freeway frontage road.
Neither driver exited the vehicle at the time of the
argument, investigators said.
Witnesses told police that, when both vehicles
started moving, Longmire “stretched his arm out of the
driver window with a pistol in his hand” and allegedly
shot Mouton. Longmire then took off.
Surveillance video from Pusch and Nguyen Injury
Lawyers showed Pastor Mouton crashing his vehicle at a
curb. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Further investigation revealed that Longmire was a
person of interest in connection to Mouton’s death, and
records from his Uber account showed that he was in the
area at the time of the shooting, according to
documents. A man has been arrested and charged in
connection to the death of a Houston pastor.
Longmire’s vehicle was identified by a witness
following the road rage shooting. According to court
records, Longmire said no one uses his vehicle except
for him, but that he was not in the area at the time of
the shooting. But phone records and Uber app could
confirm his whereabouts.
Longmire was taken into custody and his bond was set
at $500,000 on Saturday.
Uber says no passengers were in the vehicle at the
time of the shooting and that Longmire’s access to Uber
was removed once they were aware of the investigation.
The family of Ronald Mouton Sr. said he has been a
pastor for 32 years in the community. He will be
remembered as a man who touched many lives.
His longtime friend Bishop James Dixon said Mouton’s
family is still grieving.
“For them, this is at least some relief but they’re
still going through, they’re asking the public for
prayer and privacy. But for all of us, we’re hopeful
that justice is done. The family wants justice to be
done.”
“There are thousands of people within a five-mile
radius of East Temple Church,” Dixon told us back in
June. “Ronald Mouton has been a blessing to that
community.”
Dixon said he grew up with Mouton and knew him all
his life. He issued a statement on behalf of the famil:
“We are grateful for all the love and concern
the community continues to express. The horrific loss of
our beloved, Rev. Dr. Ronald Mouton, Sr. is painful
beyond words. We are still grief-stricken over this
senseless tragedy. We want the man who took his life to
understand the seriousness of his crime. He took the
life of a husband, a father. Our confidence and hope is
in the proficient work the of police. We also hope the
work of the entire criminal justice system is done
thoroughly and that justice is duly served. We
understand the public interest in this case, but we are
not ready to speak publicly. We have authorized our
trusted family friend, Bishop James Dixon, to interact
with media on our family’s behalf. Thank you for
respecting our need for privacy as we seek to heal from
this traumatizing circumstance.”
Date/time: August 5th
Venue: Toyota Center
Address: 1510 Polk St
1510 Polk St, Houston, Texas, 77002
City of Houston calls
inaugural gun buyback event a success
The city
of Houston’s first annual gun buyback event drew
hundreds of people on Saturday.
Lines of cars could be seen wrapped around the block
at Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church in southeast Houston
where the event was held. Officials collected 845 guns
and say they gave out nearly $100,000 in gift cards
throughout the event.
“I got a shotgun and a .32,” said Marvin
Washington.
“It’s an old .22, but it’s like 50 years old, but
it’s been laying around,” said Brian Carr.
Community members surrendering their firearms had
different back stories but shared one common goal.
“Man, it is so crazy out here. The more guns we get
off the streets the better it is, trying to get
something positive done,” said Washington.
“It’s too much crime going right now. We just
thought we could do whatever we can to help,” said Carr.
That’s exactly what city leaders are hoping to
accomplish.
“We used best practices to plan and hold today’s
event. I did not know what to expect, and the turnout
was overwhelming,” said Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner.
“The turnout demonstrates there are too many guns on our
streets, and people want to get them out of their
possession. The gun buyback is not the only solution,
but we can and will make our streets safer and help
reduce gun violence.”
The don’t ask, don’t tell buyback program is one of
the latest efforts under Mayor Turner’s “One Safe
Houston” initiative to combat violent crime. The event
was put on in collaboration with the Houston Police
Department and Commissioner Rodney Ellis.
“This 9-millimeter is one of the guns that’s been
taken in, we’ve taken in ghost guns, rifles, automatics.
The program is working, gift cards being handed out,”
Mayor Turner said.
For each gun surrendered, gift cards up to $200
dollars were given out.
The overwhelming turnout also drew out people trying
to buy guns from those in the line, something Mayor
Turner directly addressed.
“There were some people going up and down the lines
saying we will pay you more than the city and the county
are willing to pay you, with no background checks, and
mind you, it’s not necessarily illegal and that’s a
loophole in the process,” he said.
The setback couldn’t overshadow the program’s
success.
“I knew it was going to be a lot but even I didn’t
think this many people on the first time,” said Houston
Police Chief Troy Finner.
City leaders say another gun buyback event is
already in the works.
An
Uncommon Flow: Common performs with Houston Symphony
“Common with the Houston Symphony” was a featured
program on the Houston Symphony’s summer series that
drew fans from all over the metro area to attend.
Houstonians had the rare opportunity to witness a
hip-hop performance accompanied by a live orchestra—not
a band, but an orchestra. Yes, the classical
instrumentation was present: woodwinds, brass,
percussions and strings, along with the hip-hop icon
Common.
Common collaborated with Steven Reineke, who
conducted the live musical arrangements for the two
sold-out shows at the Hobby Center. The diverse audience
enjoyed the motif of melodies, rhythms and harmonies,
all intertwined with the thought-provoking lyrics of a
conscientious Black man.
“Common is using his musical platform to bring
people with diverse racial backgrounds but similar
social ideologies together for the common good of our
nation, and the good of our global communities,” said
Tonya Sykes, event attendee. “I was so surprised to see
so many non-Black people here.”
“The performance was absolutely dope,” said
professional musician, educator and artist Ikechi Ojore.
“I’m not usually at a loss for words, but simply put, it
was amazing.”
Additionally, Common and his team hosted intimate
meet and greets each night after the shows interacting
with some of Houston’s power players to share and
discuss the opportunities to team up with his
non-profit Common Ground and his newest social
project The Stardust Kids.
Common Ground was created in 2002 by Dr. Mahalia
Hines and Common to provide leadership and mentoring
support to at-risk high school populations in his
hometown of Chicago. Programming includes Window of
Opportunity (WOO) Academy, an entity that addresses
freshmen year transitions by providing students with the
tools to be successful learners.
Common Ground’s
Dreamers and Believers Program exposes students to
fine arts career paths and college readiness mentorship.
During the meet and greet, there were unconfirmed
whispers of Common Ground expanding to Houston.
The Stardust Kids is an incubator collective for
emerging artists and artistic entrepreneurs that
encourages, supports and develops the raw talent of
youth in the program. One of the core goals of the
collective is to teach members how to incorporate social
justice issues (and any other important issues they
chose) into the expression of their art.
Common formerly known as Common Sense, is best known
for his conscientious rap since he dropped his first
album “Can I Borrow a Dollar” in 1992. With over 20
years in the entertainment sector, Common has continued
to reinvent himself by portraying diverse roles in
television and films, performing voiceover roles in
animation movies, executive producing the Netflix
drama “Burning Sands” and the Showtime urban drama “The
Chi,” all while maintaining his commitment to national
social justice issues.
Common won an Oscar for the song “Glory” (with John
Legend), a Grammy for “Love of My Life (An Ode to Hip
Hop)” and an NAACP award for his role in “Selma.”
His current album, “A Beautiful Revolution Part 2,”
is a poetic call to community activism amid jazzy tones,
fast-paced R&B tempos and Latin-flavored guitar chords.
Common brings attention to social, racial and economic
injustices in the Black community with cuts
like “Courageous,” “A Place in This World” and the title
track “A Beautiful Revolution.”
If there was a common theme that tied all his songs
performed with the Houston Symphony together, it was
reflected in one of Common’s own lyrics: “Remember your
light when the word seems shady.”
City delivers 5th Ward, Kashmere Gardens contamination
lawsuit
Mayor Sylvester Turner announced the City of Houston
has delivered to Union Pacific Railroad a Notice of
Intent to sue under the federal Resource Conservation
and Recovery Act. The City’s letter can be found here.
The lawsuit is being filed for the imminent and
substantial endangerment from environmental
contamination from UP’s facilities on Liberty Road, in
the Greater Fifth Ward and Kashmere Gardens
neighborhoods. The City is required by law to deliver a
90 – day notice of intent to sue before it can file a
lawsuit.
Watch the news conference and announcement here
The City is joined in this effort by Harris County
Attorney Christian D Menefee, (Harris
County letter) and an organization of private
citizens, called The Bayou City Initiative, led by Jim
Blackburn.(BCI
letter) Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis and
State Senator Borris Miles attended Wednesday’s news
conference along with several members of the community
who spoke in favor of the action.
“The letter to UP is the latest step in the City’s
ongoing efforts to bring redress to the historically
African-American communities of the Greater Fifth Ward
and Kashmere Gardens,” said Mayor Sylvester
Turner. “For too long and at too high a cost,
UP has ignored and disrespected these communities. The
cost is too high, and the burden on these residents is
too great.”
“The City has urged and will continue to urge the
federal government to join and lead the future lawsuit
against Union Pacific. This active involvement by the
federal government is expressly provided for in the
statute and would bring to bear the greater resources of
the federal government in litigating these claims and
providing relief to the residents, particularly funds
for new housing,” said City of Houston Attorney
Arturo Michel.
Historical operations at the UP Facility include
creosote treatment and waste disposal. The resulting
contamination reached the groundwater of the Greater
Fifth Ward and Kashmere Gardens neighborhoods. The UP
Facility and surrounding properties continue to be
contaminated, today, with numerous hazardous materials
and these waste materials continue to move underground,
migrating further off-site from the facility.
“Our neighbors in the Fifth Ward and Kashmere
Gardens have waited too long for a clean up plan from
Union Pacific. The state has identified two cancer
clusters in the area, but people continue to die while
we wait for answers,” said Harris County
Attorney Christian D. Menefee. “We’re asking
for a plan that fully investigates the extent of
contamination, fully assesses the health risks of that
contamination and protects people moving forward.” “
“BCI is filing this notice of intent to sue even
though a permit proceeding has been ongoing for years at
the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality,” says Jim
Blackburn, President of BCI. “The TCEQ process
is quite slow and cumbersome and several cancer clusters
have been identified by the Texas Department of Health.
It is time for this process to be expedited and this
notice of intent to sue starts the process for a direct
filing in federal district court.”
“Families
living near the Union Pacific site in Kashmere Gardens
have suffered and will continue to be harmed until there
is robust remediation and cleanup of the site. I’m
so proud that the City of Houston and Harris County are
partnering to take action to protect this community and
root out the vestiges of environmental racism,” said Harris
County Precinct One Commissioner Rodney Ellis.
“I want to thank Mayor Turner, County Attorney
Menefee and the Bayou City Initiative on filing this
lawsuit against Union Pacific. The City’s finding of
dioxin on top of the Texas Department of State Health
Services’ finding of a confirmed cancer cluster
surrounding the Union Pacific site is alarming and
demands action. It’s time to send a message that the
black and brown neighborhoods of Houston will no longer
be the dumping ground for industry. Environmental racism
in these communities must end. The Fifth Ward and
Kashmere Gardens communities have been waiting far too
long and lost too many family and friends for us not to
act,” Texas State Senator Borris L. Miles,
District 13.
Earlier this month, the
City announced the discovery of the chemical Dioxin in a
single surface soil sample taken on June 15, 2022, near
Liberty Road and Lavender St. in Kashmere Gardens.
Following the detection in the initial sample, the
Health Department gathered more samples and is
conducting laboratory testing of the samples. The Health
Department is also proceeding with a community plan to
inform residents. It will continue working closely with
the EPA, the Texas Department of State Health Services,
and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
(TCEQ).
The finding of Dioxin in the Fifth Ward
and Kashmere Gardens area is noteworthy and underscores
why we are working aggressively to protect families and
their children. We already know that the Texas
Department of State Health Services found a
higher-than-expected acute lymphoblastic leukemia cancer
rate at nearly five times the expected rate in that
community.
“We cannot stand still and do nothing
while people die or their health suffers. So, we are
looking at how we can assist people in Kashmere Gardens
and the Fifth Ward. As we move forward in this
collective action, people need relief, and they needed
it years ago,” said Mayor Turner.
Black man
goes viral for response to son being called n-word
A Dillards employee in Texas identified only as
Homer, is one of the newest members of the unemployed
ranks after being fired for calling a Black man’s son
the n-word.
Homer, an employee at the Dillards at Northpark in
Dallas, was filmed by onlookers as the father, Muhammad
Karim, calmly read Homer up and down, and then up again,
in a manner with such cool that the interaction, caught
on cell phone, has been viewed over a million times.
How was Karim able to maintain his composure? His
faith.
“The Prophet Muhammad said, ‘Don’t be angry, don’t
be angry, don’t be angry,” Karim told a reporter from
the Dallas CBS affiliate station Channel 11. “But I’ll
be honest with you, I was angry. I was livid.”
However, most viewers of the video could not pick up
on Karim’s anger because of the calm manner in which he
held Homer, a Dillards employee of over 20 years,
accountable for his actions.
Karim was shopping with his 10-year-old son in the
Dallas department store while other customers overheard
Homer calling Karim’s son a “f—ing ni—er.” An
unidentified individual captured the aftermath on camera
showing Karim confronting the now unemployed Dillards
employee.
“It’s unacceptable, you shouldn’t do that. You don’t
know the impact of what you’ve done to my son. But maybe
you were unaware,” said Karim.
Homer stood looking bewildered and dumbfounded as
Karim continued his read.
“You shouldn’t be speaking that way, period. If you
know that, why do that, man?”
In an attempt to justify calling Karim’s son out of
his name, Homer blamed a hurt leg as the cause of his
use of the n-word. I know. Make it make sense.
“You hurt your leg, so you said f—-ing n——-? Treat
human beings with respect and morals and values. Now I
have to go home and correct my 10-year-old not to be a
damn idiot,” added Karim.
The video was originally posted nearly a week ago,
and has garnered thousands of online commenters
applauding Karim for keeping his composure throughout
the incident.
“God bless this young Black king for his level of
maturity,” one person wrote. “He sure (was) raised with
love and values.”
Keeping his cool is one thing, but Karim also kept
it real when he told Homer had it been another day, and
Karim had come into the store in another state of mind,
“It wouldn’t be a cop, it wouldn’t be a security guard,
it wouldn’t be nobody to stop me from getting on your
ass if I wanted to.”
Dillards released a statement this week that served
as a response to Homer’s behavior.
“The allegations made against our former employee
were promptly investigated, found to be in clear
violation of our standards, and his employment with
Dillard’s was immediately terminated.”