*Black ranchers in Colorado were arrested recently after accusing their white neighbors of years-long racial harassment.
In 2020, Courtney Mallery and his wife, Nicole, bought a 1,000-acre ranch in El Paso County, a predominantly white town near Colorado Springs, Complex reports. But shortly after, their neighbors unleashed a campaned of hate against them. The couple claims the surrounding white folks made their grievances known by “burning their Black Lives Matter flag, poisoning their dogs, killing livestock, driving vehicles onto the property to block them from leaving, and writing racial slurs on the ranch,” per Yahoo.
The Mallerys filed multiple complaints to the El Paso County Police Department. But local authorities have allegedly made minimal effort to quell the situation.
When the couple started documenting the attacks and threats on social media, the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office arrested them last week. The Mallerys were charged with stalking, petty theft, and tampering with a utility meter, The Gazette reports.
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What we know about the stalking case involving Black ranchers in El Paso County https://t.co/Aaz07lGUP2
— NAACP Rocky Mountain State Conference (@rmnaacp) February 11, 2023
The couple’s story has gone viral, prompting organizations like the NAACP to get involved.
“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,” Rocky Mountain NAACP President Portia Prescott told 9 News. “It needs to be taken a lot more seriously than they have taken it in the past.”
The Mallerys believe the officials are letting the harassment continue because the county wants the land, according to Ark Republic.
“We are upset, we are here to fight, but they’re trying to silence us and make us look like we’re crazy. They [are] trying to steal my land and lock us up to cover this up,” Courtney Mallery told the media outlet.
The NAACP stepped up to help bail the couple out of jail. The organization intends to assist the Mallerys in their fight to protect and maintain their property.
Watch the video report below.
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