Bodycam footage shows white officer on horseback threaten to drag black man led by rope

Remember when news came out two months ago that mounted police in Galveston, Texas arrested a homeless black man and transported him to headquarters by rope?

The Associated Press has released body cam footage of the incident, and the audio may be more shocking than the imagery.

Photos of the arrest on Aug. 3 went viral and sparked outrage when images of two white police officers on horseback leading 43-year-old Donald Neely through town.

Protesters last month demanded that the officers’ body camera footage be released, the AP reported.

The video footage comes from the camera of Officer Patrick Brosch who, alongside Officer Amanda Smith, made the arrest of Neely for alleged criminal trespassing.

Sections of the video show the pair conversing with Neely and each other.

“This is going to look really bad,” Brosch says to Smith while chuckling and tossing her the rope.

The camera lapses to Brosch putting a welding mask on the head of Neely (which he had previously been wearing) and unraveling the rope.

“I’m not embarrassed,” Neely says.

“You’re not embarrassed?” Brosch repeats.

The officer then puts a cup that apparently has loose change in it behind a gate.

“You’re doing good, Mr. Neely,” Brosch assures him. “But we gotta do what we gotta do, too. Ya know?”

He hands a green cloth to Neely, which appeared to be a towel.

“This is gonna look so bad,” he says again while laughing. “I’m glad you’re not embarrassed, Mr. Neely.”

In another lapse while the officers parade Neely down the street, Smith chimes in.

“We’re walking. Let’s go,” she reminds Neely and follows with a threat.

“Stay next to me. Cause I’m gonna drag ya, if not,” she says. “Stay next to me. Thank you.”

Neely says something inaudible to Brosch and Smith cuts in, “O.K., but I need you to stay next to me.”

The video continues to show the march as the trio comes down a street. Passersby stop to gawk at the sight.

Galveston police Chief Vernon Hale, who is black, said after the arrest that the officers on horseback are trained to use such techniques in crowd control situations, but the officers displayed “poor judgment in this instance.”

He apologized and said the department has since changed its policy, the AP reported.

Hale will use the report to determine if any further action will be taken against the two officers, according to the police department.