Submission 11,912

Overview

Mounted Police Officer Leading Black Man By a Rope refers to the controversy surrounding a viral photograph of two police officers on horseback apprehending a mentally ill African American man and leading him on a rope. Many remarked that the image resembled tactics used during slavery, leading to an apology by the Galveston police force.

Background

On August 5th, 2019, Facebook ^[15] user erin.toberman posted the photograph with an illustration of a black man being pulled by a rope during slavery. They wrote, "THIS IS WRONG!!!! #noexcuse #InterruptRacism #ConfrontBigotry. Galveston, TX on Saturday August 3, 2019 near the intersection of 23rd and Church Street. #Galveston." The post received more than 1,200 shares, 575 reactions and 165 comments in two days (shown below).

Erin Toberman is feeling angry in Galveston, Texas. August 5 at 10:14 AM THIS IS WRONG!!!! #noexcuse #InterruptRacism #ConfrontBigotry Galveston, TX on Saturday August 3, 2019 near the intersection of 23rd and Church Street. #Galveston TaHOR DL.Christiansen

Developments

Video Footage

The following day, Facebook^[16] user haleigh.ashworth.31 posted a video of the incident. The post received more than 63,000 views, 1,700 shares, 1,300 comments and 350 reactions. The man was later identified as 43-year-old Donald Neely.

Galveston Police

On Monday, August 6th, Galveston Police Chief Vernon L. Hale III apologized for the incident on the police department's Facebook^[17] page. He wrote:

First and foremost I must apology to Mister Neely for this unnecessary embarrassment. Although this is a trained technique and best practice in some scenarios, I believe our officers showed poor judgment in this instance and could have waited for a transport unit at the location of the arrest. 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.

POLICE Galveston Police Department August 5 at 4:38 PM We became aware Monday afternoon of a post circulating about a Saturday arrest involving two mounted patrol officers and how the arrested individual was transported. A transportation unit was not immediately available at the time of the arrest and a man was handcuffed and escorted beside two police officers on horses. While this technique of using mounted horses to transport a person during an arrest is considered a best practice in certain scenarios, such as during crowd control, the practice was not the correct use for this instance "Although this is a trained technique and best practice in some scenarios, I believe our officers showed poor judgment in this instance and could have waited for a transport unit at the location of the arrest. 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." Chief Vernon L. Hale, II We understand the negative perception of this action and believe it is most appropriate to cease the use of this technique. The Police Chief has taken immediate action to suspend this technique of transportation during arrests Please see the press release for more information (Edit: Correct address of arrest is 601 23rd Street)

POLICE Galveston Police Department PRESS RELEASE 601 54th Street, Suite 200| Galveston Texas, 77551 Sergeant Xavier T. Hancock 409.497.6568 Cell xhancock@galvestontx.gov TEXAS Who is this man? Donald Neely (06/15/1976) O Who are the officers Officer P. Brosch and Officer A. Smith Why was he detained or arrested? He was arrested for Criminal Trespass at 306 22nd Street It appears the man is being led by officer holding a rope tied to the man's hands. Is that accurate? No. Mister Neely was handcuffed, and a line was clipped to the handcuffs V S Where was the man being led to? Mister Neely was being led to 21st and Market, where the Mounted Patrol Unit staging from was Were the officers body cameras on at the time this man was being detained? Yes, the body cameras were activated The officers involved were familiar with Mister Neely, and were aware that he had been warned against trespassing upon this specific location several times "First and foremost I must apologize to Mister Neely for this unnecessary embarrassment. Although this is a trained technique and best practice in some scenarios, I believe our officers showed poor judgement in this instance and could have waited for a transport unit at the location of arrest. 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." Chief Vernon L. Hale, II THE CITY VESTY

The follwoing day, the Galveston Police Department held a community meeting about the incident. The post received more than 17,000 views, 260 shares and 180 reactions (shown below).

Family Response

On August 7th, Neely's family told the press that Neely suffered from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. His mental health issues, according to the family, have been the cause of several incidents with the police and his criminal record.

Neely's sister Taranette said in an interview, "They should have never did what they did, put a black man in between two horsemen that are white […] They don’t care to know the whole story,” she said. “You're a criminal in their eyes. You’ll always be a criminal. Ain’t no redemption for you. You’re trash. And that’s how they treated him."

Media Coverage

Several media outlets covered the controversy, including The New York Times,^[1]^[2] The Daily Beast,^[3] NBC,^[4] The Guardian,^[5] BBC,^[6] USA Today,^[7] CBS,^[8] Vox,^[9] The Root,^[10] ABC,^[11] CNN,^[12] Washington Post,^[13] The Daily Dot ^[14] and more.

Search Interest

External References

^[1] The New York Times – Photo of Mounted Police Leading Black Man by a Rope Prompts Outrage

^[2] The New York Times – Black Man Led on Rope by Police Is Mentally Ill, His Family Says

^[3] The Daily Beast – Texas Police Apologize for Viral Photo of Mounted Officers Leading Black Man by Rope

^[4] NBC – Texas officers on horses led handcuffed black man by a rope

^[5] The Guardian – Texas police apologise after officers on horseback led black man by rope

^[6] BBC – Texas police apologise for horseback officers leading black man by rope

^[7] USA Today – White cops on horseback led a black man by rope in Texas. Their police chief apologized

^[8] CBS – Handcuffed black man is led by rope down street by cops on horseback

^[9] Vox – “This is 2019 and not 1819”: mounted police leading a black man by a rope sparks outrage

^[10] The Root – Yes, the Image of a Handcuffed Black Man Being Led Down the Street by Mounted Police Is Real--and a Texas Police Chief Is Sorry It Happened

^[11] ABC – Galveston officers on horseback seen leading handcuffed man with rope

^[12] CNN – Texas police department apologizes after photos emerge of officers on horseback leading a handcuffed black man

^[13] The Washington Post – Officers on horseback led a black suspect through the streets by rope. The chief apologized.

^[14] The Daily Dot – Police on horses lead Black man on leash through streets

^[15] Facebook – erin.toberman's Post

^[16] Facebook – haleigh.ashworth.31's Post

^[17] Facebook – galvestonpolice's Post

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