WALLER COUNTY, Texas — A group of armed members of the New Black Panther Party marched on the Waller County Jail Wednesday afternoon chanting “The revolution is on… Off the pigs,” and “Oink Oink… Bang Bang!” The group of about fifteen Black Panthers exercised their First and Second Amendment rights. The group was met in Waller County by a large contingent of Harris County (Houston) Sheriff’s Office deputies.
In order to avoid a repeat of last weekend’s disturbance where protesters invaded the Sheriff’s Office foyer and engaged in disruptive behavior, Waller County Sheriff R. Glenn Smith called the Harris County Sheriff’s Office to request assistance under a regional assistance agreement. Harris County sent in about seventy-five deputies including about ten horse mounted crowd-control deputies and approximately thirty crowd-control deputies in riot gear.
The Black Panthers marched into the street in front of the jail chanting “Whose streets?… Our streets!” Many of the members of the group were armed with shotguns, hunting rifles and AR-15 style assault rifles. Most looked like they were simply holding the weapon they were carrying. One of the “soldiers” took a more aggressive grip on his weapon, holding his rifle with his finger “indexed” slightly above the trigger. This can be considered a “ready” position in a shooting situation.
During one of the chants the group shouted in a back and forth marching style cadence song:
The revolution is on, said the chant leader. Off the pigs, the group chanted back. The chant continues, Time to pick up the gun… Off the pigs. No more pigs in my community… Off the pigs. No more brothers in jail… Off the pigs. No more sisters in jail… Off the pigs. The pigs are gonna get scared… Off the pigs. The pigs are gonna get dead… Off the pigs.
Confrontation in Waller County. Armed Black Panthers stand in front of jail where Sandra Bland killed herself. (Photo: Breitbart Texas/Bob Price)
In other chants the group shouted “All power to the people; Whose streets, Our streets; and Freedom or Death.”
In another video segment they chanted “Freedom or Death” and the yell leaders shouted “We want our damn freedom. We don’t want no more of your God D*mn legislation.”
In another chant, the leader attacked Planned Parenthood. During that short speech, he said, “We’re so stupid we are killing ourselves.” He talked about the millions of black babies who have been killed by Planned Parenthood abortions.
Breitbart Texas spoke with Harris County Sheriff’s Office Major Darryl Coleman after the conclusion of the protest, The Major appeared to be the ranking officer on scene for Harris County. Coleman told Breitbart Texas, “We came here to maintain the peace. Our job was to protect the law abiding protesters, the Waller County deputies and Waller County property. It looks like we did our jobs well.”
Despite a very tense situation, no violence broke out and no one was arrested during the afternoon protest.
Coleman said Waller County requested assistance. “We had available resources and deputies who are highly trained and well-equipped for these types of events,” the Major said. “We were happy to assist.” He said the county supplied between 50 and 75 deputies to perform a variety of duties. He said the count was not tight because it was a very fluid situation throughout the afternoon.
Harris County Sheriff’s Office’s Observation Aircraft maintains constant vigilance over the scene. (Photo: Breitbart Texas/Bob Price)
This writer observed a Harris County mobile command post along with the mounted deputies and riot/crowd-control deputies. Other deputies deployed metal barriers for crowd control at the jail and the Waller County Courthouse. The county’s aviation assets were also deployed.
Because of the heat, mounted deputies and other crowd-control deputies were swapped out on a regular basis to prevent an overheating situation for the deputies and horses. Temperatures were about 101 degrees with high humidity.
Earlier in the day on Wednesday, Sandra Bland activist Dewayne Charleston was allegedly arrested at the jail while attempting to lower the jail’s flags to half-staff in honor of the one-month anniversary of Bland’s suicide in the jail.
Charleston is a former judge in Waller County.
Pastor Hannah Adair Bonner tweeted that Charleston had contacted her after being arrested.
Bob Price is a senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas and a member of the original Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and on Facebook.