DFW News App

An unnamed suspect could be charged with injuring an elderly person after a Jan. 20 attack on a group of people in Longview who were protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The incident, which was filmed by a person in a car stopped at an intersection, took place at Tuttle Boulevard and West Loop 281 in front of Longview Mall.

Longview police officer Andrew Nettles responded to a call about a fight in progress, according to a report he wrote about the incident.

The News-Journal obtained a copy of the report through a request for public information under state law.

The report was largely redacted, with the city of Longview saying it was a “partial release only” because it involves an ongoing investigation.

“While patrolling the area before being dispatched, I did observe a small group of elderly individuals with political protest signs in this area. One of the signs stated, ‘NO ICE,’ ” Nettles wrote in the report.

The report names a 73-year-old man as a victim and an 81-year-old woman as a witness.

In the report, the officer said he saw that the 73-year-old man had “fresh blood on the left side of his lip and a small cut on the inside of his right ear.”

“All parties stated that they witnessed the suspect, an older white man who appeared to be in his 60s, wearing a brown Vietnam veteran hat, a green shirt, and a blue jacket pulled over, who got out of the vehicle and, without warning, began to yell at them about why they were protesting.”

Officers did later identify the suspect, but his name was redacted from the report.

“All parties stated that they attempted to de-escalate the situation and, without warning, (the suspect) began to grab a sign from (one of the protesters) and rip it up,” the report states.

The 73-year-old man reported that he tried to get between the suspect and another protester.

That is when the suspect, without warning, began throwing several punches “towards (the victim’s face” and hit the victim “with his right fist.” The victim had taken a photo of the suspect’s car.

The officer reported watching a video of the attack. Also, the 81-year-old woman said she was not hit. Based on the video and the woman’s statement, the officer wrote she was not assaulted. The woman did report a witness coming to the protesters’ defense.

A separate witness was in the mall parking lot near On the Border restaurant when she saw the incident.

“The woman advised that she did observe a physical altercation between the protestors and another party (and) stated that another man intervened in the physical altercation, and one of the individuals was knocked into the roadway of W Loop 281, and was almost struck by traffic,” the report states. “(The woman) stated the man who intervened continued to assault the other non-protestor party as that individual returned to their vehicle to leave. (The witness also) stated that, during the altercation, the individual that initially was the primary aggressor was knocked to the ground, and she witnessed the other protestors kicking and striking the individual while he was on the ground.”

That witness described the incident as “mutual combat because both parties were ‘putting hands on each other.’ ”