Page 6
NEWS
Monday, June 26,JOd
THE BATTALION
Deputy tear-gasses birthday party
Sheriff claims procedure, actions valid and is unconcerned with lawsuit
NEWTON, Texas (AP) — A South
east Texas sheriff defends using tear
gas to break up a birthday party at
tended by 200 blacks last week and
says he is unconcerned that the group
is threatening a lawsuit.
"I've eaten fat meat that worried
me more than they do," Newton
.County sheriff Wayne Powell said.
Powell, who is white and has been
•sheriff for 19 years, told the Houston
Chronicle his officers did nothing
wrong in the June 17 incident at the
American Legion Hall in Newton, 55
miles northeast of Beaumont.
"People wouldn't disperse," Pow
ell said. "They were drinking and uri
nating in front of the officer."
His deputies first used loudspeak
ers to try to break up a party that had
grown too noisy, Powell said.
The sheriff, who lives a block away,
said he could hear the noise from the
party and said he often receives com
plaints of loud music and noise com
ing from the hall.
"You can go over
there to Jasper
and get yourself a
lawyer. The town
is full of them."
— Wayne Powell
Newton County sheriff
A deputy threw a canister of tear
gas on the metal roof of the hall in an
attempt to break up a crowd that filled
the building and spilled out into a
parking lot, the sheriff said.
The tear gas canister rolled off the
roof and exploded in a cloud of gas,
blocking the only entrance to the hall.
Ernie Holmes, a former Pittsburgh
Steeler who has retired to his home
town of Newton, is a leader of a group
that is considering asking the state to
investigate the incident. A lawsuit is
also being considered. Holmes said.
Officers did not warn the group
they were going to use tear gas and did
not make medical assistance available.
Holmes said.
The sheriff met with the group and
told them they are welcome to sue.
"You can go over there .to Jasper
and getyourself a lawyer," Powell told
them. "The town is full of them."
Brandi Gulley, who had rented the
facility to celebrate her 18th birthday,
said she was crushed by the crowd as
they rushed to escape the building. She
fell and twisted her ankle. Gulley, who
is seven months pregnant, said she
fears the fall hurt her unborn child.
Some in the group said they think
the confrontation was intended to
close down the only gathering place
for blacks in Newton, a town of 1,900
people.
Legion post commander W.D.
Smith said the state fire marshal's of
fice inspected the building last week,
in the wake of the disturbance. In
spectors told him the building should
not be rented out again until fire ex
tinguishers are provided, emergency
lighting installed and more exits cre
ated, Smith said.
20 miles
20 km
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Oil refinery explosion in Kuwait
caused by a gas leak kills four
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Source
KUWAIT’ (AP) — An explosion ear
ly Sunday at the largest of Kuwait's
three oil refineries killed four workers,
injured 49 and seriously damaged the
facility, authorities said.
The blast was caused by a gas leak,
but it was unclear what had ignited the
escaping gas, said the Mina al-Ahme-
di refinery's operations manager,
Hamza Bakhash.
The fire was under control by mid
morning, and officials were allowing
leaking gas to burn off, he said.
"The explosion was huge," Oil
Minister Sheik Saud Nasser A1 Sabah
told reporters Sunday at the refinery,
about 25 miles south of Kuwait City.
"Damage is extensive. We still don't
know the size or cost of damages.
Some units might not be operational
for months, and some for weeks."
Smoke and flames rose from the
"Damage is ex
tensive. We still
don't know the
size or cost of
damages."
Shiek Saud Nasser Al Sabah
Oil minister
gasoline unit following the blast. Fire
trucks parked nearby were littered
with broken glass.
At least one concrete structure ap
peared destroyed, and the force of the
blast shattered windows in office
buildings at the complex.
Crude exports from the port com
plex could resume immediately, said
Managing Director Sami al-Rshaid of
the Kuwaiti National Petroleum Co.,
which owns and runs the refinery.
Products stored could meet domestic
needs for two weeks.
"The accident was not due to any
sabotage," the company said in a state
ment that also reported 49 injured.
Ironman hopeful
» Listen
domes
Triathlete Tom Rogers makes repairs to his bike during a training
ride on Highway 21 on Saturday. Rogers is preparing for the Iron-
man Europe triathalon in Roth, Germany, next month which com
bines a 2.4-mile swim, a 26.2-mile run and a 11 2-mile bike ride.
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The.
A proposal that v\
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News in Brief
Hostage freed, 20 others held captive!
Railr<
MANILA, Philippines (AP) —
Muslim guerrillas freed a
Malaysian hostage held with 20
other mostly foreign captives in a
Philippine jungle as a gesture of
goodwill and no ransom was paid,
an official said Sunday.
Chief negotiator Robert Aventa-
jado turned over the hostage,
Zulkarnain Hashim, to Malaysian
Embassy officials at the presider-
tial palace in Manila. Zulkarnar
and Aventajado flew to Manilao f
Saturday night aboard a privatejel
He was released unharme:|
Thursday night by Abu Sayyf
separatist guerrillas from
mountain camp on the island
Jolo, in the impoverished soi#
ern Philippines.
orun
Maurei
The Be,
The first of fiv<
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Lynn Mcllhane
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