#OTD on May 26, 1967, Texas Rangers under the command of A.Y. Allee attacked civil and labor rights activist Francisco “Pancho” Medrano in Edinburg, Texas. Medrano was a well respected and well liked labor and civil rights leader in Texas.
Medrano, an official with the United Auto Workers, had been sent by UAW leadership to observe a farmworker strike in the Rio Grande Valley. That strike had begun a year prior. Local police and the Rangers intervened in the strike to shut it down using violence and intimidation.
The ringleader of this police opposition was Ranger Captain A.Y. Allee. He and other Rangers had attacked several strike leaders, like Magdaleno Dimas, and other observes like Rev. Ed Krueger. A final beating of Dimas in June 1967 will be the subject of a future thread.
Strangers Report
Medrano, Rev. Krueger, and union aid Kathy Baker had arrived in the Valley to observe a picket of a train transporting scab-harvested melons. The Rangers rolled up and Allee first assaulted Baker. Medrano, who had been taking pictures of the picket, turned to film Allee’s brutality.
Allee commanded another Ranger to stop Medrano’s picture taking. That Ranger grabbed his camera and punched him in the face with it, breaking the device and ruining the film. Medrano had a second camera, which the Rangers confiscated and also exposed the film inside.
Medrano, Krueger, Baker, and several picketing farmworkers spent 1-2 nights in jail following this incident. Medrano sued Allee, the other Rangers, and local police for violating his rights. He also asked the court to invalidate several anti-union state statutes.
Judge Woodrow Seals ruled in Medrano’s favor. He declared 5 Texas statutes unconstitutional, including 2 that prohibited picketing. He also found 3 articles in the penal code unconstitutional. Last, he permanently enjoined police from interfering with Medrano.
Allee appealed the case to the Supreme Court in 1974. This is the subject of a forthcoming tweet thread. This incident is yet another in a long list of examples of Ranger abuse of civilians in the twentieth century. Allee was the most notorious of these Rangers.
This thread is a part of the #OTD in Ranger history campaign that @Refusing2Forget is running this year. Follow this twitter handle or https://refusingtoforget.org/ranger-bicentennial-project/, and visit our website https://refusingtoforget.org to learn more.
Refusing to Forget members are @ccarmonawriter @carmona2208 @acerift @soniahistoria @BenjaminHJohns1 @LeahLochoa @MonicaMnzMtz and @Alacranita, another co-founder is @GonzalesT956
@emmpask @sdcroll @HistoryBrian @LorienTinuviel @hangryhistorian, @ddsanchez432, @elprofeml, and @littlejohnjeff are other scholars working on this project.
