Alwaght- A Texas police chief was made to apologize after outrage has erupted across the US after a photo of two white police officers riding on horseback walking a handcuffed black man by a rope - recalling the long history of violence, slavery and racism against African Americans during the era of segregation - went viral.
Vernon Hale, the police chief of the US city of Galveston in Texas state, issued an apology following the incident, but his statement drew more criticism for being "weak".
Hale said the black man in the photo, Donald Neely, who was arrested on Saturday for trespassing, should have been taken to the station in a police car, instead of horse-mounted officers.
Neely was then escorted on foot, led by a length of rope and flanked by the two police.
"Although this is a trained technique and best practice in some scenarios, I believe our officers showed poor judgment in this instance," said Hale, in a statement published on Monday on Facebook.
"First and foremost I must apologize to Mister Neely for this unnecessary embarrassment," Hale said, adding that policy had been changed so that the technique would no longer be used.
Neely is free on bond.
