A black pastor recently faced a terrible injustice when he called the police after being threatened by white people, and they arrested him instead.
Keep scrolling to learn more about this damning story and how racism remains to be such a huge problem...
The Black Lives Matter movement has taken over the world...
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Since the death of George Floyd, protests for the movement have been happening across the globe in volumes we've never seen before.This kind of police brutality has been happening for centuries now...
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But George's death has sparked an outrage like never before.Thousands upon thousands of people have been taking to the streets in protest...
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And they are all marching for one thing: For the blatant racism and injustice in this country to be brought to an end.Many protests turned violent...
Violent scuffles have broken out between police and far-right protesters staging a counter-protest to the Black Liv… https://t.co/tTD1IsPxJO— Andy Vermaut (@Andy Vermaut)1592058606.0
Remarkably, however, they seem to be working.
BLACK WOMEN MATTER. BLACK MEN MATTER. BLACK CHILDREN MATTER. BLACK FAMILIES MATTER. BLACK POSSIBILITIES MATTER.… https://t.co/y6dlDWKPN3— a gem (@a gem)1591104461.0
It has also taken over our streets...
Ahead of a planned protest this weekend, the road to the White House was painted with a giant "Black Lives Matter"… https://t.co/6M3H6ehuNs— David Luganda🇺🇬 (@David Luganda🇺🇬)1591398030.0
Protests have been happening across the pond too...
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Hundreds of thousands of people have been taking to the streets in the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.One of the most recent events is the tearing down of statues of slave traders and other controversial figures by protesters.
Historic scenes in Bristol as protesters kneel on the neck of the toppled statue of Edward Colston for eight minute… https://t.co/p7VVmxHW7n— Martin Booth (@Martin Booth)1591539194.0
Colston was a slave trader.
The moment a statue of slave trader Edward Colston toppled into Bristol’s harbour. ‘It’s what he deserves. I’ve bee… https://t.co/xzJLp90l6r— Sarah Turnnidge (@Sarah Turnnidge)1591542295.0
A statue of Christopher Columbus in Virginia was another of those torn down and defaced.
Christopher Columbus statue in Virginia tripped and fell then tumbled into a fountain lake 😂 https://t.co/Dw4SyYVN7i— Bashar (@Bashar)1591754502.0
Many agreed with the protestors' actions...
@YourAnonCentral Christopher Columbus killed many Native Americans, enslaved them and took away all their wealth su… https://t.co/IIaiQEOw4j— Kilobyte_ex (@Kilobyte_ex)1591770739.0
Even though more people have been educating themselves on the history of black people and the racism that they have faced for centuries...
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It's going to take a lot more to change everyone's attitudes.And that does not exclude the police force.
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Police brutality against black people is one of the main reasons why these protests are happening and there's no denying that police officers here in America unnecessarily target people of color over white people.And sadly, it was proven that many police officers haven't been taking the #BLM movement onboard.
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It all happened in Virginia at the start of this month...Leon McCray Sr. is a well-respected pastor in Virginia...
via: YouTube
And last week, the sixty-one-year-old detailed a horrific incident that he endured on June the 1st, in a sermon at his church.The pastor found himself in the wrong place...
via: YouTube
McCray told his congregation that he was driving to a property he owned in Edinburg, Virginia when he saw 2 people who didn't live there dragging a refrigerator to a dumpster at his apartment building.When he asked them to leave because they were trespassing, he said that they started threatening him and brought three other people who circled around him.
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"They were telling me that my black life and black lives matter stuff — that they don't give a darn about that stuff in this county and they could care less and 'We will kill you,'" McCray said.The pastor then pulled out his licensed concealed gun after feeling threatened by the group and called 911 for assistance.
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He said that when authorities arrived on the scene they asked him to hand over his gun before talking to the group of five people who had allegedly threatened him. But McCray said that the deputies never let him give them his story. "They came back to me and said, 'We have to arrest you for brandishing a firearm,'" he explained."They put me in handcuffs."
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He then said that when deputies placed him in the car, the 5 despicable people who'd been threatening him waved at the vehicle and kept yelling "racial epithets" at the car. Utterly disgusting.This was deeply humiliating for the proud pastor, who had never been in trouble with the law in his life.
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"How humiliating," he told NVDaily. "How dehumanizing … to look at this mob of individuals cheering on the sidelines waving as I was carted off to go to jail."However, the pastor was soon released when the Sheriff got wind of what had happened.
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In an interview with WUSA 9, Shenandoah County Sheriff Timothy Carter said that he was upset with his deputies over the arrest."Mr. McCray was defending himself."
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In a post on the county sheriff's Facebook page, Carter wrote that he had met with McCray personally on June 3 and had apologized for his arrest. "If I were faced with similar circumstances, I would have probably done the same thing," the sheriff wrote.Thankfully, the 5 people who threatened McCray have now been charged with hate crimes.
The deputy who arrested McCray has also been placed upon unpaid leave whilst they are investigated...
@WHSVKyle @WHSVnews Upaid leave???🤷🏾. At minimum, they should be fired for gross incompetence. They should also b… https://t.co/9Kj5fHDPVJ— Microjubei (@Microjubei)1592321266.0
McCray should not have experienced this...
@WHSVKyle @WHSVnews Disgusting “mistake”— 10-5PlayZ (@10-5PlayZ)1592282916.0