Just days after the racism inspired shooting in El-Paso, two white policemen in Galveston, Texas, have triggered outrage after a shocking picture surfaced of a handcuffed black man being led through the streets by officers on horseback.
Donald Neely, 43, had been arrested for criminal trespassing close to a private property in Galveston, after having been warned several times not to trespass at this location.
However, instead of waiting for a transportation vehicle, two white officers – named as Officer P. Brosch and Officer A. Smith – tied a rope to Mr. Neely’s handcuffs and forced him walk behind their horses for approximately eight blocks to where the mounted patrol unit was situated.
The original video of the shocking incident was posted by Erin Toberman and has gone viral, evoking anger across the racial divide.
What some of the Commenters said on Twitter said:
New York Times: “The image has gone viral and sparked outrage toward the Galveston Police Department, especially among African-American people. Its symbolism, critics said, harked back to the era of slavery and segregation.”.
This is just sickening and uncalled for.
This young black man was put on a leash while handcuffed between two mounted horses in Galveston, Texas.
This invokes painful imagery of slave catchers and runaway enslaved Africans.
That is exactly why they did it. We see white men specifically going to kill brown people &cops specifically going out of their way to kill black people. See a trend? A minority has a broken light & get beaten near death but white mass killers don’t even get a scratch
This made me sick to my stomach.
No Pasaràn.
This is sickening, Why isn’t every other person isn’t getting out of their cars and protesting. These police are making a statement, that black citizens are less than human. I know I am not a US citizen but the whole world should condemn this. I am so angry.
This is dehumanizing and traumatizing. A picture is worth a thousand words. It has a chilling effect and conjures up images from the past of slave catchers bringing back a runaway slave. Utterly Disgusting.
James Douglas, president of the Houston branch of the civil rights organisation NAACP, agreed the photo showed a lack of respect, adding: “This is 2019 and not 1819.”
Galveston Police Department has apologised in a public statement confirming a ‘line’ was ‘clipped’ to Mr. Neely’s handcuffs before he was led through the streets by mounted officers.
The department said this method is ‘considered a best practice in certain scenarios’ (e.g. crowd control). It however agreed it was used incorrectly in this instance.
Read the police statement:
Galveston Police statement
After the apology, one commenter said:
2019. Texas. United States.
A (black) man accused of simple trespassing is roped to two (white) horse-mounted police officers, and paraded through town on the way to the Station.
The Galveston Police Department has apologized.
An apology is not enough.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/08/06/officers-horseback-led-black-suspect-through-streets-by-rope-chief-apologized/ …Officers on horseback led a black suspect through the streets by rope. The chief apologized.
“I believe our officers showed poor judgment in this instance,” the Galveston police chief said Monday.
washingtonpost.com