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The family of the man who was led down the street on a leash by two white Galveston, Texas police officers on horses, says Donald Neely was wronged and suffers from a mental disability.
Neely’s sister, Taranette Neely told The New York Times that her 43-year-old brother deserved better treatment and the insensitive cops “should have never done what they did, put a black man in between two horsemen that are white.”
—SHOCKING: Black man in Texas led by white police officers on horses with leash—
Galveston Police was hit with a barrage of complaints over the weekend about the shocking photo of Neely with his hands behind his back and tethered to a lease of sorts and two white police officers arrested him on charges of criminal trespass.
Taranette says Neely has bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
“They don’t care to know the whole story,” Taranette told the outlet. “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.”
Taranette explained that her family has tried for years to get Neely help, but he reportedly has rejected it and opted to live in the street, she said.
The concerned sister hopes now the incident will shed some light on the plight of the homeless population and compel officers to “respect the homeless.”
The viral photo hit a nerve among people of color at a time when racial tensions are high. Some in the Black community feel that white criminals are often treated more humanely than Black suspects.
—Cyntoia Brown is married and has a memoir on the way!—
Chief Vernon L. Hale, III of the Galveston Police Department has released a statement about the ordeal and apologized to Neely:
“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 judgment 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.”
The officers have been named as P. Brosch and A. Smith and reportedly will face discipline.
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