Black driver allegedly 'ambushed' by man on horseback with a rope: 'These are Texas roads'
A black man had a terrifying experience while driving around his childhood neighborhood when he was “ambushed” by a man on horseback carrying a rope.
James Ragland, who grew up in the area, was driving through Elysian Fields, Texas with his 10-year-old son and 12-year-old great-nephew when they encountered three people, including a child, on horseback, KTBS reports. While the other two riders moved to the side to let Ragland and the children pass, one man, since identified as Grant Williams, stopped right in front of Ragland’s car.
Related Video: Racist Letter Threatening New Siler City Soul Food Shop Brings More Customers
“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, a journalist who has written for the Dallas Morning News and the Washington Post, wrote on Facebook. “The guy guides his horse to the driver’s side and stops. I glance over and he’s just staring me down.”
Ragland rolled down the window, and Williams just sat there, so he said, “nice horse.” After saying thank you, the man replied, “These are Texas roads.”
A confused Ragland responded “I’m sorry,” prompting Williams to repeat, “These are TEXAS roads” in a louder voice. Ragland explained that he’s from Texas, at which point Williams pointed out that he was driving a car with California license plates. Ragland then explained that the car was a rental.
”Without missing a beat, the guy declared loudly again, ‘BUT THESE ARE TEXAS ROADS!’” Ragland wrote.
“The troll reached back like he was reaching for a gun,” he added. “I honestly wanted to get out of the car and pull him down off his high horse, but my kid and nephew were pleading for me to speed away. They were scared to death. And I can’t blame them. So I eased forward with the fruitcake still yelling and making threatening gestures.”
Later when Williams was going to leave the road, he came up alongside Ragland’s vehicle again.
"The gentleman was on the side of the road of his property, facing his property,” he wrote. “He whipped his horse around and charged at my vehicle by horseback and tried to get in front of it. My son was in the passenger seat, and he was screaming."
Ragland posted about the incident on Facebook, along with several updates.
Ragland immediately contacted police after the incident, but didn’t get much of a reaction from the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office. Ragland even claimed that a captain from the Sheriff’s Department hung up on him.
When the Sheriff’s Department spoke to Williams, he had a different account of the incident.
“He claims he didn’t chase our car. He claims he pulled his rope out to train his horse,” Ragland wrote on Facebook. “He’s a liar.”
The police captain told KTBS he didn’t wish to make an official comment, and that Ragland would have to come into the police station to make an official police report. When a reporter from KTBS called the Williams home, his wife refused to give any comment on behalf of her family, and warned the reporter not to call back again before hanging up.
Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:
Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.
