Video suggests cops Lead Handcuffed Melanin man by using a Rope ‘Like a Slave’—Taxpayers to Be Held liable

 Last year, an image of two horse-mounted officers employing a rope to guide a handcuffed Melanin person through the streets of Galveston, Texas, enraged the country and was slammed as racist and evoking memories of slavery. it had been so bad that police did something they rarely ever do — issue an apology. But the damage done to the victim, Donald Neely, can't be fixed by contrite cops, he's now suing the Galveston local department for $1 million.

A petition filed this month in Galveston County’s district court called the officers’ conduct “extreme and outrageous” and claimed that it caused Neely injury, emotional distress, and pain.

“Neely suffered from handcuff abrasions, suffered from the warmth, and suffered from embarrassment, humiliation, and fear as he was led by rope and mounted officers down the town street,” the lawsuit claims.

According to the lawsuit, the officers should have known that Neely “being led with a rope and by mounted officers down a city street like he was a slave, would find this contact offensive.”

What’s more, per the lawsuit, Neely alleges that he was maliciously prosecuted. Indeed, all charges were later dismissed in court.

In August 2019, policeman Vernon Hale confirmed that the officers clipped a “line” to Neely’s handcuffs after he was arrested on a misdemeanor criminal trespassing. They were leading him to a mounted patrol unit country.
The original image ignited outrage online after it went viral, with many drawing comparisons to racist images and therefore the era of slavery within the US. “Looks like they’re visiting a slave auction,” one Twitter user said.

“This is 2019 and not 1819,” James Douglas, president of Houston’s NAACP chapter told the Houston Chronicle.

“First and foremost I have to apologize to Mister Neely for this unnecessary embarrassment,” Galveston officer Vernon Hale said in an exceeding statement. “Although this is often a trained technique and best practice in some scenarios, I feel our officers showed poor judgment during this instance and will have waited for a transport unit at the situation of the arrest.”

Police said the department has changed its policy to stop it from happening again.

It said the officers, identified as Patrick Brosch and Amanda Smith, didn't have malicious intent.

“All I do know is that these are two white law enforcement officials on horseback with a Black person walking him down the road with a rope tied to the handcuffs, which doesn’t add up, period,” Leon Phillips, president of the Galveston Coalition for Justice said. Phillips suggested that the officers could have stayed with the person and waited for a car, and called on the police to finish the arrest technique.

Indeed, the officers themselves knew that as body camera footage would later show.

“This goes to seem so bad. I’m glad you’re not embarrassed, Mr. Neely,” Officer Patrick Brosch said after his partner, Amanda Smith, clipped the road to Donald Neely’s cuffs preparing to steer the man through town from their horses. The man’s “crime” was sleeping under the awning of a building after getting off work.

The outrage online would prompt an investigation and therefore the Texas Rangers were tasked with conducting a criminal inquiry into Neely’s arrest. The Rangers concluded, with the Galveston County District Attorney’s Office, that there was no basis for a criminal investigation.

“The city supports the chief in any actions he deems to be appropriate; however, if the investigation identifies deficiencies in department policies or practices those are addressed directly with the Chief,” said mayor Brian Maxwell in a very statement.