Community Leaders Seek Solutions Following Williams Stop
Posted/updated on: January 22, 2017 at 3:43 pm
TYLER — Tyler Mayor Martin Heines says he and other community leaders are committed to “solving issues the Tyler way.” The mayor commented following a City Hall meeting in which he and some of those other leaders discussed the aftermath of a police stop involving football star Ricky Williams. Heines stressed the importance of talking about issues and focusing on solutions, saying the group will move forward in a “mature, wonderful, civic manner.”
Heines noted that no specific goals have been established, saying discussions will continue and that the meeting was the beginning of a planning process. The mayor added that local leaders want to “create a community in which everyone is valued and loved” and work to improve understandings. City Councilman Darryl Bowdre echoed Heines’s comments, also remarking that Tyler is not a “perfect city” but that the group on hand represents Tyler’s diversity. Individuals representing both the city and non-governmental organizations were on hand for the session.
Earlier in the week, Heines said publicly that Williams is very welcome in Tyler. The situation developed after an incident last week in which local police responded to a suspicious person call about a man crouching behind a fence. According to KETK, Williams claims he was profiled. He says he was taking a walk in a wooded area near his south Tyler hotel while in town for the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award banquet. That’s when police approached and began to question him in what he considered an inappropriate way. Police Officer Don Martin says law enforcement personnel were just doing their job and treated him respectfully. Williams was allowed to go free following the encounter.
In the days after the incident, the case began drawing national attention and created considerable tension in Tyler. Heines says after he learned of the case, he and Williams had “a very positive conversation” by phone. Heines says he even invited Williams to stay at his home next time he’s in Tyler.
