Race Motivated Drug Bust, Lawsuit Alleges

Two law enforcement agents and a district attorney are being sued over their roles in an arrest stemming from a drug bust that has prompted allegations of racial discrimination. Forty-three people were arrested in the 1999 bust in Tulia. All but three of them are black. The federal lawsuit was filed by the Texas American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of Yul Bryant, who was arrested in July 1999 for allegedly selling cocaine. His case was dismissed. The lawsuit accuses Dist. Atty. Terry McEachern, undercover agent Thomas Coleman and Sheriff Larry Stewart of falsely arresting, imprisoning and prosecuting Bryant, who is black.