A Black pastor who called 911 after alleged attack was arrested. The sheriff apologized.
Pastor Leon McCray said he "was handcuffed in front of my assaulters," and "they waved at me as I go down the road... . Do you know how disturbing that is?"
A sheriff in Virginia has apologized to a Black pastor who was mistakenly arrested after he called authorities for help during an alleged attack by a white family earlier this month.
Pastor Leon McCray was at his home on June 1 when he saw two people trying to dump a refrigerator on his property,
he recounted during a church service Sunday. When McCray told them to stop, one person proceeded to verbally attack him and the other one went to get three other people.
McCray said that all five people started attacking him verbally and physically. They were "threatening to kill me... telling me that my Black life didn't matter," he said. That's when he felt the need to pull his concealed firearm to save his life, he said. The group of people then left and McCray proceeded to call 9-1-1 for help.
But when authorities arrived, they didn't ask McCray what happened, he said. They spoke to the white family of five who had just attacked him, he said.
"I was not given an opportunity to speak," said McCray, adding that officers told him they had to arrest him for brandishing a gun. "And I said, what about the trespassing and the assault?"
Instead, McCray "was handcuffed in front of my assaulters" by an officer who has known him from the community for over 20 years, he said, adding "they waved at me as I go down the road... . Do you know how disturbing that is?"
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