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Sheriffs Deputy Kills Young Black Man
Family & Community Demand
Justice
 

The family of 25 year-old Hiji Eugene Harrison and community activist are outraged at the circumstances surrounding his death last month. Reportedly, he was shot four times by Harris County Sheriff’s Deputy William Wilkinson. Harrison an African-American was killed early on a Sunday morning. “We want justice, we want this officer indicted for murder, my son didn’t deserve to die like this… our young Black men are being shot down and the Black community must come together to stop it before somebody else’s child gets murdered” the young man’s mother Ms. Julian James told the African-American News&Issues. Ms. James went further “ He was a husband, a father, a son, a big brother, he went to church consistently.” Family, activist and concerned citizens are very troubled by the fact that the officer who killed Mr. Harrison allegedly shot another Black man just eight days before in Humble, Texas.

The details of what happened to Mr. Harrison are sketchy. According to his family he left his northeast Houston home around 1:30am to put gas in his wife’s vehicle so that she wouldn’t have to stop on her way to church in the morning. The shooting took place only a block from his house. Assistant District Attorney Edward Porter was called to the scene of the shooting but would not comment on details. He did say, “A full and thorough investigation is being done and all of the facts of the case including the families concerns will be presented to the Grand Jury.” All cases involving officer-initiated homicides are referred to the grand jury as a matter of procedure. Captain Van Pelt of the Harris County Sheriff’s Department shared basic facts of the shooting but would not go into depth. “The public should no that we take this extremely seriously, there are several ongoing investigations” said Captain Van Pelt. The Sheriff’s Department has been under a high level of scrutiny due to media reports on alarming numbers of officer-involved shootings. The African-American Sheriff’s Deputies League has alleged racism within the department on several occasions. When asked about the high degree of skepticism regarding securing justice when law enforcement officers kill Black people.

The District Attorney’s office and the Harris County Sheriff’s Department offered only acknowledgement of the sensitivity of these matters and a willingness to release statistics after a freedom of information request is received. The New Black Panther Party has spearheaded the community outcry along with a number of other community organizations. Protest, town hall meetings, appeals to elected officials and request for a justice department investigation have taken place since Mr. Harrison’s death. Family members prayed and pleaded with the community to help them with a sustained effort to get justice at a recent community meeting. Attendee’s were in agreement that consistent community action must take place around this death and law enforcement conduct in general. Other families have stepped forward who’s love ones have died under questionable circumstances.