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A black man sued police in Texas after officers carried him through the streets with a rope after his arrest.
Donald Neely, 44, said the officers’ conduct was “extreme and outrageous” and caused him to suffer humiliation and fear.
Photos were released in August of last year of him being led through Galveston by officers on horseback, with a rope tied to his handcuffs, similar to historical images of slaves in chains.
Mr. Neely said that he felt humiliated by the way he was arrested. Photo: Adrienne Bell
He was homeless and was sleeping on a trail when he was arrested for breaking and entering.
At the time, an officer could be heard on body camera video saying twice that taking Mr. Neely through city streets like that would look “bad.”
Neely has sued the city police department for a million dollars (£ 770,000), accusing the officers of negligence and saying they should have known that he would find it offensive to be led by the rope “like a slave”.
The lawsuit read: “Neely felt as if he was being exhibited, as were the slaves.”
Last year, the Galveston Police Chief apologized for what happened.
Vernon Hale said in a statement that the technique was acceptable in some situations, such as crowd control, but that officers “showed little judgment in this case and could have expected a transport unit at the place of arrest.”
