Editing Hearne, Texas (section)

==History==

===Founding===
Hearne is located on land that initially belonged to politician and soldier [[José Francisco Ruiz]]. By the 1840s, a tavern was located there and it also served as a general store and post office. The Hearne family moved to the area in the 1850s, purchasing 10,000 acres and operating cotton plantations. Christopher C. Hearne wanted a railroad line built through the area, but the Civil War started before the railroad could be constructed. His widow later gave 700 acres to the [[Houston and Texas Central Railway]].<ref name=TSHA>{{cite web|title=Hearne, TX|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hfh02|publisher=[[Texas State Historical Association]]|access-date=November 27, 2014}}</ref>

With the construction of a depot in Hearne in 1868, businesses began to open, including a hotel, saloons, churches and a cotton gin. Two rail lines met in Hearne by the 1870s. Hearne's population was 2,129 in 1900 and 3,511 in 1940. Between 1943 and 1946, a [[Camp Hearne|prison camp]] operated near the city limits and held several thousand German prisoners of war. Agricultural and manufacturing businesses came to Hearne by the 1960s. By 1990, over 5,000 people lived in Hearne; the population was 4,690 in 2000.<ref name=TSHA/>

===Wal-Mart closure===
On [[New Year's Eve]] 1990, the [[Wal-Mart]] in Hearne closed. After closure, the store was converted into the current [[Hearne High School]].<ref name=NYT>{{cite web|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE0D7163FF937A25751C1A966958260|title=Wal-Mart, Once Again, Shakes Up Texas Town|last=Belkin|first=Lisa|date=1990-12-14|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=2009-03-13}}</ref> Merchants in downtown Hearne by that time had already folded their businesses because they were unable to compete with Wal-Mart.<ref name="Halkias">Halkias, Maria. "[http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DM&p_theme=dm&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=10D9531DE09EB928&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM Living with Wal-Mart 30 years later, Texas both cheers and fears discount behemoth Lone Star State has been changed, as has giant retailer]." ''[[The Dallas Morning News]]''. October 30, 2005. Business 1D. Retrieved on February 22, 2011.</ref> ''[[The New York Times]]'' reported that out of more than 1,500 Wal-Mart stores in the nation, the Hearne store was one of six that had closed.<ref name=NYT/>

===Drug sweeps and ACLU lawsuit===
In November 2000, 15 African-American residents of Hearne, Texas, were indicted on drug charges after being arrested in a series of "drug sweeps". The ACLU filed a class action lawsuit, ''Kelly v. Paschall,'' on their behalf, alleging that the arrests were unlawful. The ACLU contended that 15 percent of Hearne's male African American population aged 18 to 34 (and at least one woman) were arrested based on the "uncorroborated word of a single unreliable confidential informant coerced by police to make cases." The government had promised the informant leniency on a burglary charge and one hundred dollars in cash in exchange for each suspect he helped convict.<ref name="Warrior Cop 2013">The Rise of the Warrior Cop, the militarization of America's police, by Radley Blako, 2013, Kindle Location 4459</ref>

On May 11, 2005, the ACLU and Robertson County announced a confidential settlement of the lawsuit, an outcome which "both sides stated that they were satisfied with." District Attorney John Paschall dismissed the charges against the plaintiffs of the suit. He also admitted that the witness had tampered with evidence and failed a polygraph test.<ref name="Warrior Cop 2013"/>
<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aclu.org/drugpolicy/racialjustice/10795prs20050602.html|title=In Wake of ACLU Civil Rights Lawsuit Settlement, African Americans Affected by Texas Drug Task Force Scandal Call for Reconciliation at Town Meeting|access-date=13 March 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/local/investigates/2015/06/02/former-judge-says-he-quit-because-of-speeding-ticket-quota/28367771/ |title=EXCLUSIVE: Judge says he quit over speeding ticket quota |date=6 June 2015 |access-date=13 March 2017 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150606061034/http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/local/investigates/2015/06/02/former-judge-says-he-quit-because-of-speeding-ticket-quota/28367771/ |archive-date= 6 June 2015 }}</ref>

A movie, ''[[American Violet]]'', was made about the incident.

===Shooting of Pearlie Golden===
[[File:Hearne, TX, sign IMG 2263.JPG|thumb|right]]
In May 2014, protesters demonstrated against the shooting of a 93-year-old woman named Pearlie Golden by the Hearne Police Department.<ref name=USA/>   After Officer Stephen Stem responded to a disturbance at Golden's residence, police officials said that Golden had discharged a firearm into the ground twice. Stem shot Golden three times, resulting in Golden's death.<ref name=NYDN>{{cite web|last1=Boroff|first1=David|title=Texas cop who was axed after fatally shooting 93-year-old rips 'knee-jerk reaction'|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/fired-fatally-shot-93-year-old-woman-rips-knee-jerk-reaction-article-1.1789207|work=[[New York Daily News]]|access-date=November 27, 2014|date=May 12, 2014}}</ref>

The officer had been on the police force since 2012 and it was his second fatal shooting. Stem was placed on leave and Hearne mayor Ruben Gomez recommended Stem's firing.<ref name=USA>{{cite web|last1=Stanglin|first1=Doug|title=Texas town shaken after cop shoots 93-year-old|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/05/09/officer-shooting-93-year-old/8886487/|publisher=[[USA Today]]|access-date=November 27, 2014}}</ref> He was terminated by a unanimous city council vote. Stem's attorney said that some community members had turned a safety issue into one focused on age, race and gender.<ref name=NYDN/>