Texas police condemned after officers on horseback lead black suspect by rope

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Police in Texas have apologised after photographs emerged of two white officers on horseback leading a black man down the street by a rope.

Donald Neely, 43, had been arrested on suspicion of trespassing in an office building in downtown Galveston, a coastal city of 50,000 people just outside Houston.

The officers attached a rope to the handcuffs behind his back, before leading him to a police staging area eight street blocks away.

A passerby took photographs which circulated on social media, leading to a widespread backlash against the police department. "This is 2019 and not 1819," said James Douglas, president of the Houston chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

It was the latest incident to raise tensions over police treatment of black suspects. Prominent alleged abuse and deaths in custody have sparked riots in recent years up and down the US.

Melissa Morris, a lawyer for Mr Neely's family, said he was homeless, mentally ill, and suffered from bipolar disorder.


https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/08/06/texas-police-horseback-lead-black-suspect-rope/

Syl wrote:

Cass wrote:No human being should ever be treated like this. They should have been capable of watching him while waiting for a car to arrive.

Spot on. People have turned this into a race thing, it's not, it's  just inhumane for anyone to be walked through the streets like this in 2019.

Except...you're missing one important point: he is black.  That’s a pretty important fact, doncha think?  Specially in Texas, where they dragged and killed a black, James Byrd, Jr., behind a pickup to show their white superiority.  Cite me one instance in which you have seen a white person roped & herded like cattle, simply to move him to jail!

Original Quill wrote:

Syl wrote:

Spot on. People have turned this into a race thing, it's not, it's  just inhumane for anyone to be walked through the streets like this in 2019.

Except...you're missing one important point: he is black.  That’s a pretty important fact, doncha think?  Specially in Texas, where they dragged and killed a black, James Byrd, Jr., behind a pickup to show their white superiority.  Cite me one instance in which you have seen a white person roped & herded like cattle, simply to move him to jail!

I have never in recent times seen a photo of anyone escorted to prison like this, (outside if Spaghetti westerns)
Mind I dont live in the US, so I cant say if it happens much, or if it does, does it only happen to black people.

phildidge wrote:Police in Texas have apologised after photographs emerged of two white officers on horseback leading a black man down the street by a rope.

Donald Neely, 43, had been arrested on suspicion of trespassing in an office building in downtown Galveston, a coastal city of 50,000 people just outside Houston.

The officers attached a rope to the handcuffs behind his back, before leading him to a police staging area eight street blocks away.

A passerby took photographs which circulated on social media, leading to a widespread backlash against the police department. "This is 2019 and not 1819," said James Douglas, president of the Houston chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

It was the latest incident to raise tensions over police treatment of black suspects. Prominent alleged abuse and deaths in custody have sparked riots in recent years up and down the US.

Melissa Morris, a lawyer for Mr Neely's family, said he was homeless, mentally ill, and suffered from bipolar disorder.


https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/08/06/texas-police-horseback-lead-black-suspect-rope/

Everyone was talking about this, every newspaper & blog site.


I think it's the metaphor of the rope thing, Didge. (I get that every prisoner in that town can be tied with  rope, not just the blacks). However the sight of black people with ropes/chains immediately evokes visions of the slavery & lynching practices that went on for centuries. 

My tuppence worth!

Syl wrote:

Original Quill wrote:

Except...you're missing one important point: he is black.  That’s a pretty important fact, doncha think?  Specially in Texas, where they dragged and killed a black, James Byrd, Jr., behind a pickup to show their white superiority.  Cite me one instance in which you have seen a white person roped & herded like cattle, simply to move him to jail!

I have never in recent times seen a photo of anyone escorted to prison like this, (outside if Spaghetti westerns)
Mind I dont live in the US, so I cant say if it happens much, or if it does, does it only happen to black people.  

Yes...blacks are singled out for subhuman treatment all over the south. Attend a Klan hanging, next time it is advertised. Racism is a part of the southern culture.

Original Quill wrote:

Syl wrote:

I have never in recent times seen a photo of anyone escorted to prison like this, (outside if Spaghetti westerns)
Mind I dont live in the US, so I cant say if it happens much, or if it does, does it only happen to black people.  

Yes...blacks are singled out for subhuman treatment all over the south.  Attend a Klan hanging, next time it is advertised.  Racism is a part of the southern culture.

1924?

Original Quill wrote:

Maddog wrote:

Having been stuffed into the back of few police cars, I would just as soon be marched to the cross bar hotel and get it over with. Fuck me those back seats are small.

Galveston is an island with a limited number of cops. I guess they could have all sat there for the next hour shooting the shit waiting for a car?    

That's what they do in the rest of the USA.  Beats treating people like livestock.

I thought they drove around shooting people?

Maddog wrote:

Original Quill wrote:

That's what they do in the rest of the USA.  Beats treating people like livestock.

I thought they drove around shooting people?  

Oh, I'm sorry. And hanging people in Mississippi. Did I leave that out?

Original Quill wrote:

Syl wrote:

I have never in recent times seen a photo of anyone escorted to prison like this, (outside if Spaghetti westerns)
Mind I dont live in the US, so I cant say if it happens much, or if it does, does it only happen to black people.  

Yes...blacks are singled out for subhuman treatment all over the south.  Attend a Klan hanging, next time it is advertised.  Racism is a part of the southern culture.

Thats a bit dated, do you have a more up to date one?

Original Quill wrote:

Syl wrote:

I have never in recent times seen a photo of anyone escorted to prison like this, (outside if Spaghetti westerns)
Mind I dont live in the US, so I cant say if it happens much, or if it does, does it only happen to black people.  

Yes...blacks are singled out for subhuman treatment all over the south.  Attend a Klan hanging, next time it is advertised.  Racism is a part of the southern culture.

That's 1924, not nowadays.

magica wrote:

Original Quill wrote:

Yes...blacks are singled out for subhuman treatment all over the south.  Attend a Klan hanging, next time it is advertised.  Racism is a part of the southern culture.

That's 1924, not nowadays.

It had to start somewhere.  I've seen no announcement that it has ended...

That was a terrible case that happened over 20 years ago.
I dont see how it can illustrate the way the police force differentiate between the way they treat black people v white people today.

To transport any human being in this way is wrong in the 21st century, it's not the wild west, police have cars and handcuffs nowadays...there is no need for horses and ropes..
If the police in that county make a habit of it they are wrong.
If they only make a habit of it if the prisoner is black add racist to their cv.

Original Quill wrote:

magica wrote:

That's 1924, not nowadays.

It had to start somewhere.  I've seen no announcement that it has ended...

James Byrd was not being arrested.

Nice try Doc.

Syl wrote:That was a terrible case that happened over 20 years ago.
I dont see how it can illustrate the way the police force differentiate between the way they treat black people v white people today.

To transport any human being in this way is wrong in the 21st century, it's not the wild west, police have cars and handcuffs nowadays...there is no need for horses and ropes..
If the police in that county make a habit of it they are wrong.
If they only make a habit of it if the prisoner is black add racist to their cv.

He was in handcuffs. It's actually police procedure to use your lead rope on a handcuffs when you have arrested someone on horseback. It's to dissuade them from running. It is very unusual to walk them to the jail like that, because in almost all cases it's far too far to walk someone to jail. In this case it was a few blocks.

Maddog wrote:

Syl wrote:That was a terrible case that happened over 20 years ago.
I dont see how it can illustrate the way the police force differentiate between the way they treat black people v white people today.

To transport any human being in this way is wrong in the 21st century, it's not the wild west, police have cars and handcuffs nowadays...there is no need for horses and ropes..
If the police in that county make a habit of it they are wrong.
If they only make a habit of it if the prisoner is black add racist to their cv.

He was in handcuffs. It's actually police procedure to use your lead rope on a handcuffs when you have arrested someone on horseback. It's to dissuade them from running. It is very unusual to walk them to the jail like that, because in almost all cases it's far too far to walk someone to jail. In this case it was a few blocks.

OK, but it still looks humiliating for the person being led imo.

Maddog wrote:

Original Quill wrote:

It had to start somewhere.  I've seen no announcement that it has ended...

James Byrd was not being arrested.  

Nice try Doc.

You know that isn't the point. You're trolling again, Redneck.

If you don't want to use your head (no, the other head) then get outta the game.

Maddog wrote:

Syl wrote:That was a terrible case that happened over 20 years ago.
I dont see how it can illustrate the way the police force differentiate between the way they treat black people v white people today.

To transport any human being in this way is wrong in the 21st century, it's not the wild west, police have cars and handcuffs nowadays...there is no need for horses and ropes..
If the police in that county make a habit of it they are wrong.
If they only make a habit of it if the prisoner is black add racist to their cv.

He was in handcuffs. It's actually police procedure to use your lead rope on a handcuffs when you have arrested someone on horseback. It's to dissuade them from running. It is very unusual to walk them to the jail like that, because in almost all cases it's far too far to walk someone to jail. In this case it was a few blocks.

But only for blacks, right? Whites get better treatment, on the premise that they pay higher taxes, right?

Original Quill wrote:

Maddog wrote:


He was in handcuffs. It's actually police procedure to use your lead rope on a handcuffs when you have arrested someone on horseback. It's to dissuade them from running. It is very unusual to walk them to the jail like that, because in almost all cases it's far too far to walk someone to jail. In this case it was a few blocks.

But only for blacks, right?  Whites get better treatment, on the premise that they pay higher taxes, right?  

No, anyone being detained by mounted police will be tied to the horse.

Just like anyone being detained by someone in a car will be placed in the back seat.

Syl wrote:

Maddog wrote:


He was in handcuffs. It's actually police procedure to use your lead rope on a handcuffs when you have arrested someone on horseback. It's to dissuade them from running. It is very unusual to walk them to the jail like that, because in almost all cases it's far too far to walk someone to jail. In this case it was a few blocks.

OK, but it still looks humiliating for the person being led imo.

It is. I mean there is no non humiliating way to get arrested. No doubt being placed in the back of a car is less "public".


De Grasse was right the other day. We are far more moved by the spectacle of events than the actual facts that surround them.

Original Quill wrote:

Maddog wrote:

James Byrd was not being arrested.  

Nice try Doc.

You know that isn't the point.  You're trolling again, Redneck.

If you don't want to use your head (no, the other head) then get outta the game.

Is it your point that black people get murdered?

Thanks!! I wasn't aware until now.

Why didn't they call for a car, or if it was only a few blocks to the police station why not have one officer get off his horse hand the reins to his colleague to take his horse back and the dismounted officer walk with the handcuffed suspect back to the station if a car was not available. Maybe the officers didn't mean anything by it but I have to admit I found that image very disturbing, in view of the not so long ago and current situation of this kind of thing.

Vintage wrote:Why didn't they call for a car, or if it was only a few blocks to the police station why not have one officer get off his horse hand the reins to his colleague to take his horse back and the dismounted officer walk with the handcuffed suspect back to the station if a car was not available. Maybe the officers didn't mean anything by it but I have to admit I found that image very disturbing, in view of the not so long ago and current situation of this kind of thing.

They called for a car. Wasn't available.

You are correct though, one should have dismounted and walked along side, if for nothing else, better optics.

Maddog wrote:

Original Quill wrote:

You know that isn't the point.  You're trolling again, Redneck.

If you don't want to use your head (no, the other head) then get outta the game.

Is it your point that black people get murdered?

Thanks!! I wasn't aware until now.  

I know. You were too busy being too clever.

Maddog wrote:

Vintage wrote:Why didn't they call for a car, or if it was only a few blocks to the police station why not have one officer get off his horse hand the reins to his colleague to take his horse back and the dismounted officer walk with the handcuffed suspect back to the station if a car was not available. Maybe the officers didn't mean anything by it but I have to admit I found that image very disturbing, in view of the not so long ago and current situation of this kind of thing.

They called for a car. Wasn't available.

You are correct though, one should have dismounted and walked along side, if for nothing else, better optics.  

When is a vehicle not available? Call a fucking cab, FFS.

"No vehicle' was an after-the-fact cover, thought up by the next guy whose gonna get promoted. In truth, what was going on was crackers showing a black guy his place...until a picture showed up. These rednecks are clever by half, innit?

Original Quill wrote:

Maddog wrote:

They called for a car. Wasn't available.

You are correct though, one should have dismounted and walked along side, if for nothing else, better optics.  

  When is a vehicle not available?  Call a fucking cab, FFS.  

"No vehicle' was an after-the-fact cover, thought up by the next guy whose gonna get promoted.  In truth, what was going on was crackers showing a black guy his place...until a picture showed up.  These rednecks are clever by half, innit?

Please do not use derogatory or racist words.

It seems a bit dangerous to me. What if the arrested person tries to run? He'd pull the officer off the horse. It also looks very lazy - making the guy walk whilst the officers sit on their horses. I agree with Maddog - one of them should at least have got off his horse.

Raggamuffin wrote:

Original Quill wrote:

  When is a vehicle not available?  Call a fucking cab, FFS.  

"No vehicle' was an after-the-fact cover, thought up by the next guy whose gonna get promoted.  In truth, what was going on was crackers showing a black guy his place...until a picture showed up.  These rednecks are clever by half, innit?

Please do not use derogatory or racist words.

Censorship? From you, Raggs? I'm dumbfounded. You've become drastically closed-minded of late. Seen a doctor recently?

Raggamuffin wrote:It seems a bit dangerous to me. What if the arrested person tries to run? He'd pull the officer off the horse. It also looks very lazy - making the guy walk whilst the officers sit on their horses. I agree with Maddog - one of them should at least have got off his horse.

And what if flying saucers swoop in to rescue him? Outrageous speculation. Honestly, Raggs, you have no more proof that he was trying to run, than that he was taking a piss. You are just dreaming up scenarios...tossing shit against the wall to see what sticks. You're being irrational...you choose sides, then run to fetch reasons for your position.

Any other (non-southern) police department would simply handcuff him, sit him on the curb, and await transportation. Only southern cops must treat a black like herding cattle. Ask yourself: did this happen in Iowa? Oregon? Massachusetts? Any northern state? No--surprise, what a coincidence--it happened in a southern state.

Original Quill wrote:

Raggamuffin wrote:It seems a bit dangerous to me. What if the arrested person tries to run? He'd pull the officer off the horse. It also looks very lazy - making the guy walk whilst the officers sit on their horses. I agree with Maddog - one of them should at least have got off his horse.

And what if flying saucers swoop in to rescue him?  Outrageous speculation.  Honestly, Raggs, you have no more proof that he was trying to run, than that he was taking a piss.  You are just dreaming up scenarios...tossing shit against the wall to see what sticks.  You're being irrational...you choose sides, then run to fetch reasons for your position.

Any other (non-southern) police department would simply handcuff him, sit him on the curb, and await transportation.  Only southern cops must treat a black like herding cattle.  Ask yourself: did this happen in Iowa?  Oregon?  Massachusetts?  Any northern state?  No--surprise, what a coincidence--it happened in a southern state.  

I didn't say he was trying to run. I wish you'd read posts properly and stop lying all the time.

Your post had no relevance to my post whatsoever. Just learn to read and understand what people are saying.

Original Quill wrote:

Raggamuffin wrote:

Please do not use derogatory or racist words.

Censorship?  From you, Raggs?  I'm dumbfounded.  You've become drastically closed-minded of late.  Seen a doctor recently?

You're being racist against white people, so it's you who's closed minded.

In fact, you're becoming more and strange by the day.

Raggamuffin wrote:

Original Quill wrote:

Censorship?  From you, Raggs?  I'm dumbfounded.  You've become drastically closed-minded of late.  Seen a doctor recently?

You're being racist against white people, so it's you who's closed minded.

In fact, you're becoming more and strange by the day.

There is no such thing as racism against white people.  That's a construct made up by the British, who know nothing about slavery and disenfranchisement.  It's corkscrew logic.

Original Quill wrote:

Raggamuffin wrote:

You're being racist against white people, so it's you who's closed minded.

In fact, you're becoming more and strange by the day.

There is no such thing as racism against white people.  That's a construct made up by the British, who know nothing about slavery and disenfranchisement.  It's corkscrew logic.

Really....tell that to the thousands of underage white kids targeted by Pakistani gangs throughout the uk.

Raggamuffin wrote:It seems a bit dangerous to me. What if the arrested person tries to run? He'd pull the officer off the horse. It also looks very lazy - making the guy walk whilst the officers sit on their horses. I agree with Maddog - one of them should at least have got off his horse.

He's tied to the horse. He would have to drag the horse if he wanted to run.

It's bad optics, and people with an agenda will jump on it.

Original Quill wrote:

Raggamuffin wrote:

You're being racist against white people, so it's you who's closed minded.

In fact, you're becoming more and strange by the day.

There is no such thing as racism against white people.  That's a construct made up by the British, who know nothing about slavery and disenfranchisement.  It's corkscrew logic.

The British didn't have slaves?

Maddog wrote:

Raggamuffin wrote:It seems a bit dangerous to me. What if the arrested person tries to run? He'd pull the officer off the horse. It also looks very lazy - making the guy walk whilst the officers sit on their horses. I agree with Maddog - one of them should at least have got off his horse.

He's tied to the horse. He would have to drag the horse if he wanted to run.

It's bad optics, and people with an agenda will jump on it.

What if the horse bolted then? It all looks very dangerous to me.

Maddog wrote:

Original Quill wrote:

There is no such thing as racism against white people.  That's a construct made up by the British, who know nothing about slavery and disenfranchisement.  It's corkscrew logic.

The British didn't have slaves?

Occasionally they did...as in a fad, soon over. But in the south it was an industry and a way of life. Big difference.

Raggamuffin wrote:

Maddog wrote:

He's tied to the horse. He would have to drag the horse if he wanted to run.

It's bad optics, and people with an agenda will jump on it.

What if the horse bolted then? It all looks very dangerous to me.

That's a risk. But those are police horses. My daughter used to help train horses like that. They are well trained to handle gun shots and other noises. That's why they are used in crowd control. These aren't racehorses. Some horses never make the cut and won't get used.

Original Quill wrote:

Maddog wrote:

The British didn't have slaves?

Occasionally they did...as in a fad, soon over.  But in the south it was an industry and a way of life.  Big difference.

They outlawed it a few decades before the US. Who do you think brought the slaves to the American South? Sweden?

Maddog wrote:

Original Quill wrote:

Occasionally they did...as in a fad, soon over.  But in the south it was an industry and a way of life.  Big difference.

They outlawed it a few decades before the US. Who do you think brought the slaves to the American South? Sweden?

The Brits outlawed slavery at home, I believe, in 1803.  Then they outlawed it for the Empire in 1833.

But there's no equivalency with the south.  The slaves in the south were a crucial part of a cash-cropping agri-industry, and a way of life domestically.

Original Quill wrote:

Maddog wrote:

They outlawed it a few decades before the US. Who do you think brought the slaves to the American South? Sweden?

The Brits outlawed slavery at home, I believe, in 1803.  Then they outlawed it for the Empire in 1833.

But there's no equivalency with the south.  The slaves were a crucial part of a cash-cropping agri-industry, and a way of life domestically.

Yeah, that's why so many European countries brought them to their colonies.