The two White police officers who dragged a Black man by a rope while they sat on horses will not be charged city officials in Galveston, Texas revealed.
According to the Houston Chronicle, Galveston’s District Attorney’s Office said that there was not enough evidence to charge the officers.
In early August, Galveston Police officers arrested Donald Neely for allegedly trespassing. Because they did not have a vehicle, the officers claimed they used a rope to drag Neely because that was the best practice. However, the officers faced a backlash after a photo of the incident eventually went viral.
During a press conference, civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump blasted the police department by saying, “When they drag Donald Neely down the road by horses and rope, it was like they were dragging our entire community down the road,” Crump said. “This is not 1819. This is 2019. And that image projected back to 1819, as if those were the fugitive slave hunters, and that Donald Neely was a slave being … with horse and rope brought down the street.”
The Galveston Police Department eventually apologized, but the damage was already done. Crump and other community leaders called for the police department to release body cam footage of the incident. The department has yet to release the footage.
A separate county investigation continues, but it will only examine the Galveston Police Department’s policies, training and practices and make recommendations on changes that should be enacted.
City officials in Galveston have called for a third-party investigation into the incident.
