#NNPA BlackPress

The Great March on Galveston

NNPA NEWSWIRE — News of the arrest of Donald Neely spread like wildfire, after a couple of shocking photos appeared on social media showing two White, uniformed Galveston Mounted Patrol Officers escorting Neely, who is Black, down the middle of 23rd Street in Galveston like a runaway slave; handcuffing him with his hands behind his back and leading him by rope down the street like a captured animal as they rode their individual horses down the street.

Published

7 years ago

August 20, 2019

Oakland Post

Civil Rights Attorney Benjamin Crump addresses media at historic Jack Johnson Park in Galveston, Texas. Photo Credit: Jeffrey L. Boney

Attorney Benjamin Crump Threatens to Bring National Civil Rights and Mental Health Advocates to Galveston if Sept. 15 Deadline Not Met to Release Body Camera Footage

By Jeffrey L. Boney, NNPA Newswire Contributor

Back on August 3rd, Donald Neely was arrested by Galveston police after he allegedly committed the crime of criminal trespassing at a commercial property located at 306 22nd Street, and after allegedly being warned not to do trespass on the property several times before.

It was not the arrest of Neely that caused a stir, it was the way in which he was detained that has caught the attention of people across the country, including many civil rights activists and attorneys. This action caught the immediate attention of several witnesses, who took the pictures and shared them on social media.

News of the arrest spread like wildfire, after a couple of shocking photos appeared on social media showing two White, uniformed Galveston Mounted Patrol Officers escorting Neely, who is Black, down the middle of 23rd Street in Galveston like a runaway slave; handcuffing him with his hands behind his back and leading him by rope down the street like a captured animal as they rode their individual horses down the street.

Neely, 43, suffers from mental illness.

According to Neely’s family, he has suffered from mental illness for over a decade and had been homeless based off their last known interaction. The family had not seen him in roughly four years, but saw the disrespectful and dehumanizing photos of him circulating online.

According to a statement released by the Galveston Police Department, they state that “when a police car was not immediately available, he (Neely) was escorted by mounted police officers about four blocks to a nearby staging area.”

National civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump held a major press conference on August 12th, calling on the Galveston Police Department to release the body camera footage of the incident to be able to determine whether Neely’s civil rights may have been violated.

“This isn’t 1819. This is 2019, Galveston, Texas,” said Crump. “The Galveston Police Department should have no problem releasing the body cam video, so we can see with our own eyes the content of the character of these two officers; based off of how they talked to and how they treated this unarmed Black citizen who suffered from mental illness.”

Nearly 170 years ago, the federal government passed the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which gave individuals known as “slave catchers” the legal mandate to go anywhere in the country to locate and prosecute runaway slaves and return them to their slave masters.

These slave catchers were usually individual citizens who were paid to catch runaway slaves, and some were members of local law enforcement. Nevertheless, the majority of these slave catchers were known to ride horses, as well as use ropes and chains to secure the runaway slaves, making them walk behind or beside their horses until they reached their destination.

Fast forward to 2019, and we see that the slave catcher model has reared its ugly head once again; this time in Galveston.

One of the people who received a copy of the picture and shared it on social media, is a former Galveston resident named Erin Toberman, who is White and whose father was a police captain.

At the press conference, Toberman spoke to reporters and made some strong and salient points about the incident.

“I’m a White woman and I have nothing but respect for law enforcement and I know how hard their job can be, because my father was a police Captain,” said Toberman. “Members of law enforcement have always told me that if I see something, I should say something. Well, I saw something and I said something, but now I’m being told that I shouldn’t have saw anything or said anything. That isn’t right.”

Crump said that once Galveston Police Department releases the video and they can determine the content of the character of the officers involved to be in line with what the police department is saying, they will leave, but until then they do not plan on leaving the city.

“We are not going anywhere,” said Crump. “As a matter of fact, if you don’t release the video in 30 days, we are going to invite other civil rights advocates, mental health advocates and human rights advocates, and we will have a great march on Galveston. We are going to march down the same street that you dragged Donald Neely down by rope.”

State Senator Borris L. Miles released a statement regarding the Galveston Police Department Mounted Patrol incident, stating:

“I condemn Officer P. Brosch and A. Smith for their actions during this arrest and for unnecessarily subjecting Mr. Neely to that public humiliation. I applaud Galveston Police Chief Vernon Hale for his swift response and apology to Mr. Neely. I ask him to consider disciplinary actions against those two officers and to institute department-wide sensitivity training to ensure that officers, present and future understand why this was wrong, why it was inhumane and why it was downright racist.”

Crump set the deadline date to release the video for September 15. In the meantime, both the Texas Rangers and the Galveston County Sheriff’s Office are investigating the controversial arrest. In expressing their seriousness about the release of the video, Crump led attendees in a chant to demand its release, chanting, “Say No Mo’…Release the Video.”

According to the Galveston Police Department, the body cameras were functional and were live during the encounter with Neely, so now it boils down to the actual release of the footage.

Galveston Police Chief Vernon Hale and Galveston City Manager Brian Maxwell, both made statements expressing their belief that the officers may have used poor judgment regarding the incident and the officer’s handling of Neely.

“Although this is a best practice in certain scenarios, I don’t think it was the best practice at this point in time,” said Chief Hale.

Chief Hale has stated that his department has ended the use of this practice effective immediately. However, this is not good enough for Neely’s family, his attorneys and for many community advocates who have been riveted by this incident.

Time will tell if the Galveston Police Department will comply with Crump’s demands and inquiring minds want to know what exactly they will hear and see once the footage is released.

Jeffrey Boney is a political analyst and frequent contributor for the NNPA Newswire and BlackPressUSA.com and the associate editor for the Houston Forward Times newspaper. Jeffrey is an award-winning journalist, dynamic, international speaker, experienced entrepreneur and business development strategist. Follow Jeffrey on Twitter @realtalkjunkies.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Up Next

Another Black Man Targeted, Tasered and Beaten by Police

Don't Miss

OP-ED: Jamestown to Jamestown: Commemorating 400 Years of the African Diaspora Experience

Oakland Post

Click to comment

#NNPA BlackPress

COMMENTARY: Jim Crow 2.0 at the Pentagon

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — The American people are expected to believe that one extraordinary officer after another suddenly fails to meet some undefined standard of excellence. We are expected to ignore impeccable service records while accepting that political appointees alone possess the wisdom to determine who is worthy of advancement.

Published

2 weeks ago

August 3, 2026

bpusa-syndication

Pete Hegseth insists that he is restoring “merit” to the United States military. But after months of dismissals, blocked promotions, and ideological purges, the evidence tells a different story. His campaign against so-called “diversity, equity, and inclusion” has become something far more dangerous: an assault on equal opportunity that falls with particular force on African Americans, while also targeting women, Latinos, gay Americans, and transgender service members.

The latest example is both troubling and infuriating.

Once again, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has reportedly blocked the promotion of an exceptionally qualified woman—Rear Admiral Amy Bauernschmidt. Bauernschmidt is no ordinary officer. She became the Navy’s first woman to command a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, one of the most demanding leadership assignments in the world. Her career reflects decades of exemplary performance, operational excellence, and leadership under extraordinary pressure.

Yet once again, a distinguished military career appears to have been subordinated to an ideological agenda masquerading as “merit.”

I call BS!

The American people are expected to believe that one extraordinary officer after another suddenly fails to meet some undefined standard of excellence. We are expected to ignore impeccable service records while accepting that political appointees alone possess the wisdom to determine who is worthy of advancement.

The pattern has become impossible to ignore.

General Charles Q. Brown Jr., only the second African American to serve as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was dismissed despite a career that placed him among the most accomplished military leaders of his generation.

Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the first woman ever to serve as Chief of Naval Operations, was removed despite decades of distinguished command experience.

Reports have documented interventions that blocked or delayed the promotions of Black officers and women selected through the military’s rigorous promotion system.

Now Rear Admiral Amy Bauernschmidt joins the growing list of highly accomplished officers whose careers have been derailed for reasons that have never been persuasively explained.

Where is Congress?

Its silence has become deafening.

Congress has an independent constitutional responsibility to oversee the armed forces. Instead, too many lawmakers have watched silently while one of the nation’s most respected institutions is subjected to ideological litmus tests and political interference.

This is not military reform. It is testosterone-fueled performative masculinity disguised as a philosophy of military excellence.

The irony is impossible to miss. Hegseth repeatedly invokes “merit,” yet his rhetoric begins with the assumption that Black officers, women, and other historically excluded Americans must somehow justify their achievements in ways that white male officers are rarely required to do.

That is not meritocracy. It is prejudice wrapped in patriotic language.

No one is asking that anyone be promoted because of race or gender. Americans simply expect that promotions be based on demonstrated competence, leadership, integrity, and service. The officers being targeted have already proven themselves repeatedly under one of the world’s most demanding evaluation systems.

Their records speak for themselves.

The attack on African American military leadership has been especially pernicious.

For generations, Black Americans fought in segregated units, earned decorations while denied equal treatment, and repeatedly demonstrated loyalty to a nation that often failed to extend them full citizenship. They broke barriers not because standards were lowered but because excellence finally overcame institutional discrimination.

Today’s campaign against “diversity” threatens to revive old assumptions under new slogans.

The implication that Black generals and admirals somehow owe their success to affirmative action rather than extraordinary performance echoes some of the ugliest stereotypes of the Jim Crow era. Yesterday’s segregationists claimed Black Americans were inherently less qualified. Today’s culture warriors simply employ more politically acceptable language while inviting the same suspicion about Black achievement.

That is why Hegseth’s campaign increasingly resembles Jim Crow 2.0.

The targets may now wear stars on their shoulders instead of military patches on segregated uniforms, but the underlying message is hauntingly familiar: Black excellence is presumed suspect, while white excellence is presumed earned.

America’s military became the finest fighting force in history because it opened its doors to talent wherever it could be found. It grew stronger after President Truman desegregated the armed forces. It became stronger when women assumed greater command responsibilities. It became stronger when every qualified American was given the opportunity to serve to the fullest extent of their abilities.

Diversity is not a concession. It is a strategic advantage.

The nation’s adversaries do not fear an American military because it is racially homogeneous. They fear it because it draws upon the talents of more than 340 million Americans whose diverse experiences, perspectives, and abilities make our armed forces unmatched anywhere in the world.

Every politically motivated dismissal of a distinguished officer sends a chilling message throughout the ranks: excellence alone may no longer be enough if you belong to the wrong demographic group.

That weakens morale. It weakens recruitment. It weakens retention.

And ultimately, it weakens national security.

Pete Hegseth has every right to pursue military readiness. He has no right to redefine merit in ways that repeatedly cast suspicion upon the accomplishments of Black officers, women, and others who have devoted their lives to defending this nation.

America deserves better. The men and women who wear the uniform deserve better. The Constitution deserves better.

And unless Congress finds the courage to exercise meaningful oversight, history may well remember this period not as a restoration of military excellence, but as the moment political ideology attempted to resurrect, in modern form, the old poison of exclusion.

Jim Crow did not strengthen America. Jim Crow 2.0 will not strengthen America’s military. It will only diminish it

Wade Henderson
Strategic Advisor
Civil and Human Rights
wade@wadejhenderson.com

bpusa-syndication

Posts by bpusa-syndication

#NNPA BlackPress

New Judge Could Decide if Karmelo Anthony Gets a New Trial

By Emilie St. John (Contributor) Karmelo Anthony will return to court next month in his first step to overturn his murder conviction. Anthony was found guilty last month in the stabbing death of Austin Metcalf and sentenced to 35 years in prison. His new legal team has filed motions seeking the recusal of State District […]
The post New Judge Could Decide if Karmelo Anthony Gets a New Trial appeared first on BlackPressUSA.

Published

3 weeks ago

July 31, 2026

Oakland Post

By Emilie St. John
(Contributor)

Karmelo Anthony will return to court next month in his first step to overturn his murder conviction.

Anthony was found guilty last month in the stabbing death of Austin Metcalf and sentenced to 35 years in prison. His new legal team has filed motions seeking the recusal of State District Judge John Roach Jr. from overseeing the appeals process.

Two hearings have been scheduled on the motion for Aug. 9 and 10 in the Collin County Courthouse in McKinney, Texas, according to Fox4 News.

On July 14, Senior Judge Sid L. Harle of the 226th District Court was assigned to preside over the defense’s motion to recuse Collin County Judge John Roach. The assignment took effect immediately and authorized Harle to handle all matters related to the recusal request, the filing read.

The Collin County District Attorney’s Office continues to defend its handling of the case by issuing a statement to NBC 5 DFW.

“The defendant’s new lawyers have filed a motion containing several inaccurate characterizations of the trial proceedings. The entire prosecution team and I conducted this trial ethically and in full compliance with the Court’s rulings and any agreements with defense counsel. We look forward to addressing these claims thoroughly in a Court of law in the coming weeks. The jury heard extensive evidence over the course of the trial and returned a unanimous verdict. We remain confident in that verdict and the fairness of the proceedings.”

Anthony’s new legal team, made up of appellate, civil rights, and criminal defense attorneys, was retained following Anthony’s conviction.

“Our responsibility is to determine whether a legal error occurred and to ensure that every issue supported by the record is fully and vigorously presented on appeal,” the team said in a statement.

“We recognize the profound loss suffered by one young man’s family and the uncertainty facing another, and we extend our respect to everyone whose lives have been forever changed by these events,” the release reads.

Anthony was charged with the stabbing death of Austin Metcalf during a track meet in Frisco, Texas, April 2, 2025. Anthony has long maintained it was an act of self-defense.

The attorneys are representing Anthony pro bono. The nearly 200-page notice of appeal seeks a new trial because his Sixth Amendment right to a public trial was violated.

“The cumulative and practical effect of these provisions was to exclude members of the public from proceedings at every stage,” the filing reads.

The filing also focused on an alleged “handshake deal” that kept Anthony from taking the stand in his defense.

The defense filing said the agreement was that the jury would not hear that Metcalf and his twin brother had been accused of racism and bullying in the past. In exchange, they also would not see Anthony’s cellphone records or his school disciplinary record, according to court documents reported by the Dallas Morning News.

Anthony’s former defense attorney, Mike Howard, said the defense relied heavily on that deal. The team chose not to ask certain questions of witnesses or call on a separate expert witness based on that agreement. It also abandoned plans to introduce testimony and evidence about the allegations against Metcalf and his brother.

Appellate attorney Russell Wilson is now handling post-trial proceedings and Anthony’s appeal. He recently sat down for an interview, stating, “The court committed multiple errors during the June murder trial, preventing him from receiving a fair trial.”

“You know, we file motions that we expect to prevail on, but we understand that there’s two sides to every story. And at the end of the day, it’ll be a judge that has to make these decisions, but we feel confident in the positions that we’re taking,” Wilson said during an interview with WFAA. “There were substantial issues that we thought a reviewing court needed to look at. We thought these were constitutional irregularities, and we could have them addressed now. And so, we put them into a motion for a new trial.”

Bree West, a former Dallas County Assistant District Attorney, found it startling that so little time was given to Anthony’s team for such a serious “life or death” situation.

“I do think that it’s really challenging that potentially a court decided that you have 10 minutes to make that level of decision when it has the potential of being life-altering,” said West during an interview with Fox 4 News.

Judge Harle is no stranger to high-profile cases, having presided over the prosecution of a police officer charged in connection with the 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde.

Anthony was convicted on June 9 of the murder of Austin Metcalf and sentenced to 35 years in prison.

The post New Judge Could Decide if Karmelo Anthony Gets a New Trial appeared first on BlackPressUSA.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

#NNPA BlackPress

COMMENTARY: LSMFT! Lord Save Me from Trump!

WESTSIDE GAZETTE — The author criticizes Donald Trump’s rhetoric, noting his use of terms like “Dumbocrats” and “Communist” to describe Democrats and democracy. The column asserts that Trump’s current strategy involves creating doubt about midterm elections due to a lack of Republican agenda.
The post COMMENTARY: LSMFT! Lord Save Me from Trump! appeared first on BlackPressUSA.

Published

3 weeks ago

July 31, 2026

Oakland Post

Frankly Speaking

Wow! Wow! Wow! The swamp drainers have truly stepped down to new levels of stupidity. You remember Weapons of Mass Destruction? We now have Weapons of Mass Distraction. Trump has introduced Dumbocrats and Communists into the conversation about Democrats and Democracy.

Trump lies so much, and his current strategy is to set up doubt about midterm elections because he and Republicans have no agenda!

He has no “Trump “ card, but Iran has a strait! He called it a skirmish; it’s now a War. He said five days; now it’s five months. He said few casualties; now it’s 18 deaths. He knew nothing about Project 2025 but hired its architects! Trump lies about the lies and often forgets these little inventions called cameras and phones

We see and hear and then see and hear the inconsistencies.

I didn’t like 45 and dislike 47 even more!

The post LSMFT! Lord Save Me From Trump! appeared first on The Westside Gazette.

Based on reporting by Westside Gazette.

The post COMMENTARY: LSMFT! Lord Save Me from Trump! appeared first on BlackPressUSA.