Black couple complained of racism; law enforcement arrests husband for felony stalking
Courtney Mallery reportedly had submitted six requests for restraining orders against individuals in El Paso County, making mention of attacks on his animals and vandalism on his property.
The NAACP is trying to figure out how a Black rancher in Colorado found himself behind bars after he and his wife complained of racism from their predominantly white neighbors.
Courtney Mallery and his wife, Nicole Mallery, asserted that during the last two years, their Freedom Acres Ranch farm in Colorado Springs has been vandalized and its livestock mutilated. In December, they even detailed accusations that an El Paso County deputy was provoking attacks, according to 9NEWS.
“Unfortunately, there are still corrupt police and racist people out there who are trying to block minority farmers from using their agricultural land because of their race,” the Mallerys shared in a statement at the time, 9NEWS reported, calling themselves “the most recent victims of this blatant racism and vitriol.”
Courtney Mallery has submitted six requests for restraining orders against individuals in El Paso County, according to online civil court records, in which he mentions assaults on his animals and vandalism on his property.
But court records show that Mallery was arrested Monday and booked into the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office on two felony counts of stalking. The Colorado Springs Gazette reported that in addition to the felony stalking charge, he would face a felony misdemeanor charge for allegedly tampering with a utility meter.
The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office is giving an account different from the Mallerys’. In a news release, the agency adamantly disputed accusations of racism in response to an online article that detailed the Mallerys’ claims of attacks and racist allegations, 9NEWS reported.
The agency asserts that over the last two years, it responded to 170 calls and 19 complaints involving the Mallerys, each of which “were individually and thoroughly investigated,” the release said. In December, Courtney Mallery was also the subject of a restraining order request from a woman who claimed she was being stalked and harassed by him.
Monday’s arrest moved the NAACP branch to act.
“I would really hope that the El Paso County Sheriff’s department and several others in rural areas understand that we’re taking this very seriously,” said Rocky Mountain NAACP president Portia Prescott, according to 9NEWS. “It needs to be taken a lot more seriously than they have taken it in the past.”
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