A Taxes police officer has apologized after officers on horseback were noticed leading a Blackman suspect through the streets tied in a rope.
Photographs of the arrest in Galveston quickly unfold on-line as social media users compared it to the time of slavery.
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“This is wrong!!!” wrote Erin Toberman, WHO first shared the image on Facebook. “ A person should NEVER be roped up and pulled by a horse to go anywhere.”
Adrienne Bell, a Democrat legislative assembly candidate for the district, advised the associate to speed up the investigation, adding: “It could be a scene that has invoked anger, disgust, and queries from the community.”
The uproar resulted in Galveston local department issuance an announcement to mention it had instantly suspended the use of such arresting techniques.
According to the statement, officers arrested the suspect, 43-year-old Donald Neely, for criminal trespass and clipped a line to his handcuffs to “escort” him back to their unit nearby.
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The department claimed different transport was “not instantly available” which the officers used “a trained technique” that was “considered best to apply at situations involving crowd control”.
However it accepted that the technique was incorrectly utilized in this case.
Police chief Vernon Hale said: “First and foremost I have to apologize to Mr Neely for this huge embarrassment.
“I believe our officers showed poor judgment during this instance and will have waited for a transport unit at the placement of arrest.
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“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.”
Leon Phillips, president for the Galveston Coalition for Justice, told the Houston Chronicle that the photograph reminded him of racist pictures from the Nineteen Twenties.
“All I do know is that these are 2 white cops on horseback with a blackamoor walking him down the road with a rope tied to the handcuffs, which doesn’t be, period,” he said.
“If it had been a whiteman, I guarantee it wouldn’t have happened.”
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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 said in its statement on Sunday: “We understand the negative perception of this action and believe it is most appropriate to cease the use of this technique.”