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White officers led black man through the streets by rope

VIRAL: Galveston Police officer lead Donald Neely by rope (Photo credit: Adrienne Bell/Facebook)

TWO WHITE police officers, mounted on horseback, have been captured on camera leading a black man through the streets of Galveston, Texas, on a rope.

Donald Neely, 43, was arrested under suspicion of criminal trespassing and an image of the arrest showed Neely’s hands bound behind his back, and one of the officers holding an attached thick blue rope.

The pictures quickly went viral, as users compared the officers behaviour to that of a slave master.

Galveston Police Department said they understand the “negative perception of this action” but the white officers “did not have any malicious intent.”

Erin Toberman, the first to share the image on Facebook, wrote: “This is wrong!!! A person should NEVER be roped up and pulled by a horse to go anywhere.”

Adrienne Bell, a democrat congressional candidate for the district, called for an investigation immediately and expressed her dismay with how the arrest was handled.

“It is a scene that has invoked anger, disgust, and questions from the community."

In response to the imminent public uproar, the Galveston Police Department proceeded to release a statement in which they explained why the officers choose such a derogatory method of transportation.

The department claimed alternative transport was “not immediately available” and that the officers used “a trained technique” that was “considered best practice in certain scenarios such as during crowd control”.

Police Chief Vernon Hale said: “First and foremost I must apologise to Mr Neely for this unnecessary embarrassment.

“I believe our officers showed poor judgement in this instance and could have waited for a transport unit at the location of arrest.”

“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.”

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