People have been outraged after two white male cops were caught on camera dragging a black, homeless man through the streets by rope while they were comfortably sitting on their horses.
The incident occurred in Galveston, Texas, whereas officers Patrick Brosch and A. Smith were seen pulling 43-year-old Donald Neely through the streets by a rope.
The pictures of the controversial method quickly went viral with people comparing the actions to slavery and claiming what happened was a clear human rights violation.
In an attempt to justify their actions, the police said the man was properly handcuffed and not tied by the rope as it appears in some pictures. They also claimed he was arrested because of trespassing and ignoring several warnings.
Following the incident, the homeless man’s sister-in-law spoke out and explained Neely is not only homeless but also mentally ill.
“Imagine that YOU are aware that living on the streets is dangerous, unsanitary, makes you a target for crime/law enforcement and isolates you from your family but YOU CAN’T make that relative understand that despite your many efforts,” she wrote in her touching post.
“Imagine searching the streets of a city for days looking for your loved one, to no avail. Have any of you ever went to breakfast, lunch and dinner at the local homeless shelters hoping you’d find your loved one having a meal with hopes to kidnap them and bring them home.
“Imagine locating your loved one, getting them in your car and they jump out of your moving vehicle to keep you from taking them from where they now call home. Just imagine for one second being 1 of his 8 children who have been fatherless for years and your father isn’t incarcerated or dead.”
She also lashed out at the cops and called them “incompetent” for handling the situation in such a cruel way.
“Imagine scrolling fb and seeing said loved one being escorted to jail on foot by 2 officers on horses, hands cuffed behind his back with a rope attached. In 2019???? He was treated like an animal paraded through the streets by two incompetent a**holes!” she added.
“I have read some of the most hateful and insensitive comments in concern to the incident involving my BIL Donald Neely’s recent arrest by GPD. People don’t even understand the depth of mental illness and how it affects the person and their family. WE HAVE TRIED AND ARE CONTINUOUSLY TRYING TO BRING HIM HOME! Please continue to pray for my family!”
While the police claim that the controversial arrest method is the “best practice in some scenarios,” they apologized for the way Neely was handled and claimed that no bad intentions were involved.
“A transportation unit was not immediately available at the time of the arrest … during crowd control, the practice was not used correctly in this instance,” they shared.
“I believe our officers showed poor judgment in this instance and could have waited for a transport unit at the location of the arrest,” Chief Vernon Hale III stated.
“My officers did not have any malicious intent at the time of the arrest, but we have immediately changed the policy to prevent the use of this technique and will review all mounted training and procedures for more appropriate methods.”
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