HOUSTON - An African-American man who was arrested and led by a rope by two white Texas police officers has sued the US city of Galveston for US$1 million in damages, his lawyer told AFP Monday .
The image caused outrage, serving as a painful reminder of some of the bleakest moments in America's brutally racist past, including the chaining of enslaved people and lynching of Black people in the Jim Crow South in the years after emancipation. One photo in particular quickly went viral on social media and sparked anger and indignation at the degrading treatment of the detained man.
At the time of his detention, Neely - who suffers from mental health issues - was homeless. He was found asleep on the forecourt of a building by the two officers from the mounted patrol unit.