These are excerpts from Chapter 12 in the new book by Vincent Lewis Hall, “A Warrior on My Side,” my 40-year ride with Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price
By Vincent L. Hall
Texas Metro News
https://texasmetronews.com
Rather than just bringing some simple misdemeanors, they chose to bring charges against all the Warriors who whitewashed alcohol and cigarette billboards under the RICO statute, a federal criminal charge related to organized crime.
Commissioner Price “copped a plea” for all four of us. None of us knew he did it. After a circus-like court trial, he alone was convicted of damaging “private property” and placed on probation for six months.
The probation was a welcome move, but it was probably meant as a trap. The Commissioner would have to scale back his protests, which seemed untenable given his passionate, if not violent, outbursts. Or the state would use that probation as a preliminary to a longer sentence and possibly jail him. It wouldn’t take long before some of the answers began to take shape.
Within nine months, in December 1990, the plot thickened. In his attempt to stop a White woman from driving her van through the established picket line at KXAS TV, John broke the vehicle’s windshield wipers.
Television and print media portrayed him as a menacing-looking Black man in trousers and a green jacket, wearing a black hat. One camera angle showed him holding onto the truck to maintain his balance by grabbing the windshield wipers.
His “accusers” saw a superhuman Negro about to turn over a 3,000-pound vehicle with a defenseless White damsel in it. The female driver inched up slowly but steadily, and eventually the wiper snapped off.
The local news outlets have a field day. They had several days of sensationalizing a novel event. They cast Price and the Warriors as a bunch of hoodlums misappropriating their anger. Furthermore, they were exploiting the frailty and fairness of weak White women and put her life at risk. Dallas’ media knows how to play the race card obscurely and subversively.
For his efforts and lack of manners, Price was sentenced to 75 days in jail and a $ 1,000 fine. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied his request, and by the fall of 1993, he took residence in the same jail he was charged with overseeing.
That 25-day period taught him a lot about how to regulate the jail’s budget and meet the compliance demands as prescribed by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards. Those lessons helped him to help the first Hispanic and first Gay Dallas County Sheriff in 2006. Lupe Valdez was a major benefactor of his time in jail.
Throughout the 25-day stint, the Warriors, I, and community leaders from across the city held nightly vigils. In the true tradition of the Warriors, they came in the rain, cold and dark of night. After being given an update on the Commissioner’s condition, they lit candles, offered prayers, and listened to elaborate orations on Liberation and Justice. The 10 o’clock news had a regular feature and saw its ratings skyrocket.
John was released 51 days early with ” with “good time.” The truth is, his presence in the jail was driving the Sheriff’s office crazy. John, in his jail, was akin to handing the henhouse keys to the fox; life would never be the same. Feathers have been flying at that jail ever since.
I chose this picture of Commissioner Price’s book for two reasons. First and foremost, no one other than jail personnel in the 1990’s had probably ever seen it. For a man who takes shots with random citizens all over the state, this was one that never showed up on Facebook, Instagram, or the like. The second reason I chose this shot is that John is, without question, a civil rights leader. There are many politicians, and he is one of the best at science. But having a mugshot and being arrested is a process that all civil rights leaders worth their salt can point to. John is picture perfect in that regard!
A long-time Texas Metro News columnist, Dallas native Vincent L. Hall is an author, writer, award-winning writer, and a lifelong Drapetomaniac.
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