HOUSTON, Texas — #PrayforHouston was trending on Twitter on Saturday after Houston police officers had to shoot an armed black man who pointed a gun at them. Alva Braziel died at the scene in Houston around 12:30 Saturday morning after officers fired what was reported as numerous shots at the man.
Fox 26 in Houston reported that police officers repeatedly asked Braziel to put down his weapon, but Braziel raised the gun to the sky, then he pointed his weapon at the officers. He was standing in the middle of the road in Sunnyside, a predominately black neighborhood in Houston.
The local ABC affiliate reported that a bystander, Eric Puckett told them, “It’s like we got a target on our back even if we innocent, it hurts. You don’t even want to walk outside your house no more. But to all the young black men and young black women out there, all black people do something positive.”
ABC13 also reported that the Houston City councilman for the area, Dwight Bowkins told them, “The biggest gorilla in the room is very clear. We need to put officers in neighborhoods that reflect the neighborhood.”
Houston Police Officer Union (HPOU) President Ray Hunt told Breitbart Texas that the shooting was “completely justified.” In fact, he used the phrase “completely justified” several times. Hunt said the officers repeatedly pleaded with the man to put down his gun, and a bystander also pleaded with Braziel to put his gun down. Braziel was shot only after he pointed a gun directly at the officers.
Hunt added, “It is not a racial issue. The officers involved were two Latino officers.” He also asked, “Can you imagine the restraint they had to show after the recent shootings in Dallas?”
A YouTube video was made by a bystander as Braziel lay dead in the middle of the road. Her narration captured on the video was quite different than the accounts in the media and of police officers. She says, “The man did not do nothing y’all. They just drove up on him. They said the man was shooting in the air. And the police just came up and started shooting. They didn’t even know if it was him or not shooting. They just shot, whoever was walking, they just shot him.”
Breitbart Texas asked Hunt what he thought about the YouTube video and he replied, “Typical. Social media is used to fuel the flames of inaccurate information out there.”
Tensions are high in Texas and across the country after five Dallas police officers were executed at a #BlackLivesMatter protest on Thursday evening. Breitbart Texas reported about the ambush, and the murder of five and wounding of others by a sniper. The killings were the highest death toll of officers since the 9/11 terrorist attack.
Lana Shadwick is a contributing writer and legal analyst for Breitbart Texas. She has served as a prosecutor and associate judge in Texas. Follow her on Twitter @LanaShadwick2.