#OTD on November 16, 1918, Texas Rangers Daniel Hinojosa and George Hurst threatened the life of San Diego Constable Ventura R. Sanchez, even though he was a fellow law officer who attempted to do his duty.
Hinojosa had a sordid past. In 1915 he and Sheriff Frank Carr had arrested Adolfo Muñoz, whom they later transferred to Brownsville. On the way they were intercepted by a mob and Muñoz was taken and lynched.
Adolfo Muñoz lynched
In Nov 1918 Rangers Hinojosa and Hurst had evidently gone to San Diego to celebrate. They got drunk and shot up a saloon. They then went out into the street to shoot their guns in the air. When Sanchez intervened, they threatened his life.
In Dec 1918 Ranger Hurst again threatened Sanchez’s life. A drunk Hurst had told him “Now, here, you Ventura, you son of a bitch, I don’t like to see you in front of me and if I ever see you before me I am going to shoot hell out of you, you son of a bitch.”
Constable Sanchez attempted to do his duty. Alas, this ran counter to the wishes of the Rangers, who disliked having their authority or power challenged. Sanchez did the right thing, but he got no reward or acknowledgement for that.
Hinojosa’s record was not the best. He served in the Rangers until Texas disbanded his company in 1919. In 1931, Mexiquito Constable Dave Ferguson hired him as a constable, calling him “one of the stalwarts among the Mexican-Americans.”
https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/hinojosa-daniel
A key source for this post is @historybrian’s https://uncpress.org/book/9781469670126/borders-of-violence-and-justice/
