The first time I saw an image of the people who use those types of vehicles downtown, I could not help but notice that many of them were young minorities. Instead of being out drinking and creating problems, they are entertaining themselves as cheaply as possible. Do their bike, scooter, etc riding create problems, I imagine so.
They made downtown, especially around Discovery Green, very attractive, but like the Galleria, John Whitmire and the City Council don’t want certain types of people going there. They pass dress codes because they may discriminate against minorities, but then turn around and discriminate against minorities trying to hang out with friends.
Maybe they want them at parties where violence breaks out too often?
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Police are investigating a shootout at a party that officers said left a woman dead and five others injured in southwest Houston.
According to the Houston Police Department, the incident happened early Saturday morning on Vandalia Way near Anderson Road just inside the Beltway.
Asst. Chief Yasar Bashir said what began as an argument between two or three people led to a shooting that left six people shot.
Being young should be a crime, and they should be held in confinement until they are 21 years of age. It will make a lot of old folks happy. I have often written that all White young men should be locked up, as they are most likely to become mass murderers here in the United States. The reason is that there are more young white men; from what I read, young men are equal opportunity mass murderers.
As investigators and researchers determine how the tragedies unfolded, the age of the accused has emerged as a key factor in understanding how two teenagers became driven to acquire such deadly firepower and how it led them to mass shootings.
They fit in a critical age range — roughly 15 to 25 — that law enforcement officials, researchers and policy experts consider a hazardous crossroads for young men, a period when they are in the throes of developmental changes and societal pressures that can turn them toward violence in general, and, in the rarest cases, mass shootings.
Six of the nine deadliest mass shootings in the United States since 2018 were by people who were 21 or younger, representing a shift for mass casualty shootings, which before 2000 were most often initiated by men in their mid-20s, 30s and 40s.
Seems that adults are determined to make criminals of young people, especially minorities. Get into a fight in school and become a criminal with a criminal record. Ride a bike without a helmet, get a citation, and become a criminal; the list of things that society once turned a blind eye to now makes criminals of our young men.
In a city with high homicide rates and some of the most dangerous roads in the country, scooters hardly seem like a crisis.
Houston city leaders are responding to the outcry and are considering a ban on electric scooters in all of downtown, east downtown and parts of midtown.
I showed up at Discovery Green on recent Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights to see what all the fuss was about.
I half-expected to see a dystopian scene out of RoboCop II. Instead, I saw a park packed with young adults and whole families riding a myriad of electric vehicles. Hundreds in their weekend getups zipping around, their vehicles glowing in the night. It was lively but also uncomfortably crowded.
Many residents and business owners believe that e-scooter riders are committing crimes or attracting them. Leadership at Discover Green pointed me to a news story from 2024 about an altercation and shooting involving two teenagers on scooters and a man that led to a downtown arrest.
Yet, HPD Capt. Melissa Countryman said at the hearing that most weapon arrests this year from January to March involved vendors who carried illegal firearms for protection.
Most of the scooter riders I spoke with are from greater Houston. The majority were Latino and Black. They, too, are looking for a safe place to enjoy an evening out, and they deserve one.
Thank you, Council Members and Mayor, for taking away a safe place for our young minority children to enjoy an evening out.