Black Man Who Was Led To Jail By Mounted Officers Sues Texas City, Police

A Black man who was led through a Texas street by two mounted police officers with a rope attached to his handcuffs following his arrest last year is suing the city and the police department for $1 million for the humiliation he faced.

Donald Neely, 43, was arrested in August 2019 for criminal trespassing. Two white police officers from the Galveston Police Department were seen in images and videos, taken by the public, walking Neely down a city street while holding the rope attached to his handcuffs.

The $1 million lawsuit filed last week in Galveston County's district court claims the actions of the two white officers were "extreme and outrageous" and the nature of the arrest caused Neely "embarrassment, humiliation, and fear," ABC News reported.

Prior to being arrested in 2019, Neely had been taken into custody several times for trespassing at downtown properties. It was later found that Neely was homeless and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. The charges against Neely were dropped by prosecutors in March 2020 after he sought mental health treatment and appeared to improve, Galveston County Daily News reported.

The images and videos of Neely’s arrest sparked outrage after they were posted on social media, prompting Galveston City Police Chief Vernon L. Hale III to issue an apology and vow to cease the use of mounted horses to transport arrested persons.

"Although this is a trained technique and best practice in some scenarios, I believe our officers showed poor judgment in this instance and could have waited for a transport unit at the location of the arrest," Hale said in a statement at that time. "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."

The Texas Ranger Division of the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Galveston County Sheriff’s Office launched a joint investigation into the incident but the involved officers were spared a criminal investigation, ABC News reported.

Police body camera footage of Neely’s arrest was made public the same month, which left him embarrassed. "I wasn’t embarrassed walking between the horses until I seen the video," Neely had told The Houston Chronicle at that time. "It came back and hurt me because I was getting video recorded by the public. Now I feel embarrassed."

"Neely suffered from handcuff abrasions, suffered from the heat, and suffered from embarrassment, humiliation and fear as he was led by rope and mounted officers down the city street," the lawsuit stated, according to ABC News. It also said the officers should have realized Neely "being led with a rope and by mounted officers down a city street as though he was a slave, would find this contact offensive."