33 YEARS AGO MATAMOROS WAS BURNING

By Juan Montoya

We were combing though our files looking for an old article from the Brownsville Herald when we stumbled into the coverage of a deadly riot in Matamoros June 26, 1978.

Given the current state of affairs on that side of the border, the event that developed through the night of June 26 and into June 27 of that year now seem almost tame. Yet, at the time, Brownsville residents could see clouds of smoke rising from the center of their sister city. It wasn't until the next day that media reports (including ours) brought home the full impact of the violence that gripped the city, its municipal building and the jail.

The events started out as a student demonstration at city hall after one of their companions was beaten by local police. After the mayor refused to at on their demands to bring the culprits to justice, hundreds of students sacked the city hall building and set it on fire, forcing the mayor to seek refuge from armed guards.

The students then moved on to the jail where they believed their companions were held and torched it, too. At least two people died and another 30 were hurt during the fracas. In time, the mayor was replaced and for the next few days the city was under martial law with truckloads of soldiers patrolling the streets.

Newsmen from all over the state flocked to the city and used the Herald as their base of operations. Legends such as Ken Herman, of the Associated Press and & the UPI's Mack Sisk showed us rookies what being wire reporters was all about. The old manual typewriters fairly sang as they sat down and poured out impeccable copy with nary a typo or backwards glance.

Dave Crowder and I drove across the bridge and gathered some quotes and photos for the next day's story (above).

And, lo, of you look closely at the bottom photo, the guy with the cowboy hat looking over a desk at the burned out jail where a charred body was discovered is none other than Jerry McHale, then a sports writer with the Herald.

The paper's coverage earned the staff a handful of AP awards and hooked me forever to newspaper work.