Black Leaders in Texas county file rights suit

Black leaders filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against several white officials in Waller County, alleging "an extensive illegal reign of terror against African-American" officials. One of the six plaintiffs, Justice of the Peace Dewayne Charleston, said District Attorney Oliver Kitzman sought to intimidate people after he lost a legal battle this year to keep students at historically black Prairie View A&M University from voting in the county northwest of Houston. The lawsuit accuses Kitzman of trying to keep the plaintiffs out of Waller County's political process. He made false claims against them, the suit says, in one case accusing Charleston of misreporting the hours he worked. The lawsuit says that although Charleston was cleared of the allegation Kitzman continues to try to indict him [more ]