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A woman whose son was killed in Hearne last year said Tuesday that a rally planned with a controversial community activist will likely be rescheduled within a week.
The rally, originally scheduled for Monday at St. Mary's Catholic Church, was canceled Sunday evening.
Sandi Johnson said she approached Father Robert Herald last week about hosting a prayer meeting in the church for the families of unsolved murder victims.
Johnson's son, Hank Johnson, was beaten last summer while staying at a Hearne hotel. He died 11 days later, after being removed from life support. No arrests have been made in the case, and Sandi Johnson has been critical of the police investigation. Her son's body is set to be exhumed and re-examined in Dallas in search of DNA evidence.
Herald initially agreed to hosting the event at his church but said he changed his mind after researching the featured speaker, Quanell X of Houston.
"I was doing it to help an aggrieved mother, as I would help any mother who had lost her son," Herald said. "But I began to realize that he was more of a hindrance than a help to any investigation running parallel to the Hearne Police Department and the Robertson County District Attorney's Office."
Herald said Quanell X's criminal record, his involvement with the Nation of Islam and the New Black Panther Party, and previous profanity-laced speeches led him to change his mind.
"Trying to be of help to a pleading mother got me more involved with somebody who maybe is heavy on showmanship and maybe will not ever achieve the results," he said.
On Sunday, Herald said, he offered the group the use of the church's parking lot but wasn't comfortable with the event being inside the church.
He was told that the parking lot didn't meet security requirements set by those affiliated with Quanell X, and he asked two ministers of predominantly black churches about hosting the rally. Both declined.
Johnson said she still plans to hold the rally in the community and still wants Quanell X to be the featured speaker.
"This is not a race issue, this is not a black thing," she said. "This is not about that. This is about the murders in Hearne, and this is about the families who are hurting."
The whole point of the event has been misunderstood as a rally to mobilize the black community, Johnson said. The purpose all along, she said, was for it to be a prayer meeting for families of victims of unsolved murders.
Johnson said she invited Quanell X to Hearne after meeting him about a month ago at a similar rally in Houston.
"He has someone in his family who was murdered also," she said. "So I told him my story and asked if he'd like to come to Hearne with me, and he said surely he did."
It remains important to have Quanell X speak to the community, Johnson said.
"When I come into Hearne, I want people to know this isn't some Black Panther takeover," she said. "This is to rally up people who have been hurting from the murders. That's what we're about. We're going to have this rally. It'll be somewhere in Hearne, and it'll be soon."
