A Texas man who was led by mounted police down a street while bound with a rope in 2019 has filed a lawsuit against the city and its police department for $1 million according to ABC News. The incident took place in August 2019, Donald Neely was arrested on trespassing charges in Galveston, Texas. Images and video of his arrest caused outrage all across the country.
The lawsuit called the officers’ conduct “extreme and outrageous” and said that it caused Neely injury, emotional distress, and mental anguish according to the news station.
“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 claims. The suit alleges that the arresting officers should have realized that 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.”
The suit is also alleging malicious prosecution over Neely’s criminal trespass charge. A Galveston spokesperson told ABC News the city doesn’t comment on pending litigation.
Galveston Police Chief Vernon L. Hale III issued an apology in the aftermath of the arrest on behalf of the department, saying the officers “showed poor judgment.”
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