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07th Aug 2019

Texas police apologise after officers on horseback pictured leading a handcuffed black man by rope

Rudi Kinsella

philadelphia shooting

This is horrible to see.

A Texas police department has apologised for its treatment of an African-American man, following an incident that saw him pulled by a rope by police officers on horseback.

Images were released that saw two mounted officers from the Galveston Police Department escorting a black man with what appears to be a rope.

However, police have said that the officer is holding a “line” that was clipped to the man’s handcuffs, rather than a rope.

The man in question has been identified as 43-year-old Donald Neely, who was arrested and charged with criminal trespass on Saturday, 3 August. He was released on Sunday.

Galveston Police Department have since apologised for the incident, with the police chief saying that it caused the man “unnecessary embarrassment.”

“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 used correctly in this instance,” a statement read.

The statement added: “We understand the negative perception of this action and believe it is most appropriate to cease the use of this technique.”

There was no transportation immediately available at the time of the arrest, police also said.

A meeting was held in the city of Galveston on Tuesday evening to discuss the incident, which can be seen on the Galveson Police Department Facebook page.

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