Calls himself a White Knight

Well-dressed gunman shatters Occupy Houston's Tranquility: Fires up to 15rounds, points weapon at female protestor

Based on eyewitness accounts, the shooter entered the park from a stairwellleading from the underground parking garage. Armed with an assault rifle, heshot multiple rounds into the air before walking towards the park fountains,where he pointed the gun at a protester and several police officers before beingshot and apprehended.
Graphic by Tyler Rudick
A gunman was shot and taken away by police officers at Tranquility Park today at5 p.m. at the site of Occupy Houston. No other injuries were reported.
Photo by Tyler Rudick

Violence broke out at Occupy Houston's Tranquility Park site Monday evening. A gunman armed with a .40-caliber rifle shot approximately 15 rounds into the air and into the park's fountains before being shot twice by Houston Police officers patrolling the area. He was taken into custody.

Witnesses say the gunman — a twentysomething male in a dark suit with a white shirt — entered the park through a stairwell at Bagby and Rusk. Walking towards the Occupy Houston site, the man fired several rounds towards the sky and started heading towards the fountains.

Several protestors approached nearby police officers, who initially thought the gunman was only armed with a toy. When bullets started splashing in the fountains, police realized the man was using a real weapon and began to circle the shooter.

A protestor says that the gunman mumbled a phrase about "being a White Knight for Occupy Houston."

The gunman walked onto the metal catwalk that crosses the park fountains when an officer on a bike fired several shots, two of which hit the gunman below the waist. There was some speculation among Occupy Houston protestors that Houston Police Department officers were using rubber bullets, but the HPD says its officers fired real ammunition. The HPD also says the shooter was a 21-year-old with a Houston address but provided no further details on his identity.

"The man pointed his gun at a young lady [from the catwalk], she's a regular occupier, but he didn't fire at her," said protestor Benjamin Franklin Rendon, who says that another occupier was trying to calm the gunman at the time as well.

"He started waving the gun around randomly and then turned towards the cops, at which point he was shot twice," Rendon says. According to authorities, the gunman was carried away fully conscious and responsive.

"I don't think he really wanted to hurt anybody," said eyewitness protestor Capital Baker. "He was aiming all over, but nowhere too specific . . . until he pointed it at the girl."

Numerous rumors circulated in the hour after the shooting, putting everyone in the park on edge. Several occupiers heard there were two additional "well-dressed men" on the Rusk side of the park. Another protestor says that the gunman mumbled a phrase about "being a White Knight for Occupy Houston."

The gunman appeared visibly unstable to most eyewitnesses, one of whom noted that he had a "crazy look in his eyes."

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”