A Black man in Texas driving along a road was chased down by a white man who had a rope in hand while riding on horseback draped with a Confederate flag.
SHOCKING: Black man in Texas led by white police officers on horses with leash
The same week two white Texas cops on horseback came under fire for walking a Black man to jail while tied to a leash, a copycat incident pops up with James Ragland who said he and his son Judah endured a “terrifying experience – a terroristic threat from a white man with a rope.”
On August 5, Ragland, a former columnist for the Dallas Morning News, wrote on Facebook that he was antagonized by a man later identified as Grant Williams after he left a relative’s home near Marshall, Texas, The Daily Mail reports.
Ragland said after he and his son were on their way to drop his nephew off and encountered two adults and two kids on horseback. He was in his car and proceeded to drive along a road toward them but Williams instead trotted his horse in the middle of the road, blocking his path.
The other family members road their horse past Ragland’s car, he said. But Williams, “just stopped in front of our car and glared at us.”
“Then, he turned the horse sideways to more completely block the road, and he turned to face us down – I kid you not – like a gunman in the Wild West,” Ragland said.
Ragland said it was a disturbing moment that got even more concerning.
“I’m perplexed, but not yet alarmed. But then the guy guides his horse to the driver’s side and stops. I glance over and he’s just staring me down. I roll the window down, thinking he had something to say, but he just sizes us up. I finally say, “Nice horse.”
‘”Thank ya,” he says back.
He then says, “These are Texas roads.”
“These are TEXAS roads,” he said even louder,” Ragland wrote.
The man then made mention of the out of state tag and plates.
‘”It’s a rental,” I shot back. And without missing a beat, the guy declared loudly again, “BUT THESE ARE TEXAS ROADS!”‘ Ragland wrote.
“What the eff does that mean?” Ragland finally asked the man.
Ragland explained that he finally pulled off after the man seemed to reach back for something that he assumed was a gun. As he sped away, Raglan said the man was “still yelling and making threatening gestures.”
Once he dropped his nephew off, Ragland said he returned down that same old town road and encountered the crazy man again. The next time, Williams said he “charges from his property on the north side and runs right out to our car, and for one frightening moment I thought he was going to dart in front of us.”
—Family of Black man whom white cops led with leash, says he is mentally ill —
“But as I sped up to avoid him, he pulled alongside our car and chased us for a mile while yelling and throwing the f… you sign initially before reaching for something on his right side,” Ragland said.
His son was scared and yelled for Raglan to drive faster to get away from the “angry white dude on horseback in full pursuit.”
Ragland said he contacted the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office to tell them about the disturbing ordeal, but after promising to send officers to Williams home, he said the police department hasn’t done much.
“I’ve learned a lot in short order about how injustice manifests itself culturally and institutionally. Since the #HarrisonCountySheriff’s office won’t do its job, I will take other legal steps to protect the public, and hold an untruthful and unrepentant #GrantWilliams accountable,” Ragland wrote.
Ragland posted a picture of Williams and who was on his horse with a Confederate flag.