On Cinco de Mayo 1977, José Campos Torres, a Mexican-American and U.S. veteran, is drinking in a bar in Houston, Texas, until he is arrested for disorderly conduct, taken behind the bar, and beaten by police. His dead body is found three days later, floating in Buffalo Bayou. Two officers are found guilty of negligent homicide, fined one dollar each, and put on probation for a year.

On this day in 1978, thousands of people gather in the city’s Moody Park, tensions still simmering between police and Hispanic Houstonians. Police show up in riot gear and are pelted with rocks and bottles as the crowd chants, "Viva Joe Torres!" 14 patrol cars are set on fire, and local shops are looted and burned.

Police officers arrest dozens of people, and the riot eventually disperses.