From EURweb.com:
“There’s no way possible I could have lived with myself taking a charge that I know I did not do. I was setting an example for my girls. And also, learning from my mom; she’s always told me what’s right is right and what’s wrong is wrong, so why would you plead something that you just know you didn’t do?”
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In November 2000, 20 residents of Hearne, TX were rounded up and arrested on drug distribution charges.
While on the surface, the raid seemed to be a triumph in the war on drugs, with 20 criminals behind bars. In reality, the event was an attack on African Americans in the small town of 5,000 people.
All 20 were fingered by a hapless crack addict who later admitted he was threatened by authorities if he did not implicate 20 residents of the Hearne housing projects.
The residents were booked and offered plea bargains if they confessed. Several innocent people took the plea bargain. Regina Kelly, a waitress and mother of four, refused.
With a battle than began that fateful day in November, Kelly became the lead plantiff in the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas lawsuit that accused the district attorney’s office of targeting minorities.
The new film “American Violet” tells Kelly’s story of defiance and suffering. It stars Nicole Beharie as Kelly and features Alfre Woodard, Michael O’Keefe, Charles S. Dutton, Tim Blake Nelson, Will Patton and Xzibit. READ MORE…
Watch the trailer for “American Violet” below
Photo: Wireimage/Getty