When Ashley Gonzalez was fired by HPD for her N-word-laced social media rant, some members of Houston’s Black community met the news with a shrug that screamed: “And?”
They remember HPD Officer Scott Tschirhart, who shot and killed 24-year-old Third Ward resident Byron Gillum on Nov. 15, 1989. Tschirhart had previously been involved in several questionable “encounters” with Black Houstonians, including shootings and the beating of a handcuffed suspect.
Though no charges were ever filed against Tschirhart for the killing of Gillum, he was dismissed from HPD thanks in large part to the activism of the Ida Delaney/Byron Gillum Justice Committee…