From [HERE] [see video HERE] HOUSTON -- Prosecutors and Houston Mayor Annise Parker on Thursday criticized a community activist's release of a surveillance video that appears to show four former city police officers kicking and stomping a black teenage burglary suspect last year, saying it could jeopardize the cases against the officers.

But leaders in Houston's black community applauded the release of what they called the "appalling" and "outrageous" actions of "rogue officers."

"This never, ever should have been kept from the people," said Quanell X, the community activist who released the video to Houston television station KTRK, which aired it Wednesday evening. "What's on that tape, the world will get a chance to see now how they truly behave in public with young black men."

Quanell X released the video despite a court order by a federal judge in October that had barred its release before the officers' trials. The order was related to a federal lawsuit the teenager, Chad Holley, has filed in which he alleges that his civil rights were violated during his arrest. A court order in the criminal cases involving the indicted officers had also barred the video's release before trial.