Black pastor calls 911 asking for help and turned out arrested

Apostle Leon McCray is the head pastor of Lighthouse Church and Marketplace Ministries International in Woodstock, Virginia.

Apostle Leon McCray and his wife, Valerie.

According to the pastor, on June 1, five white individuals verbally and physically attacked him when he tried to prevent them from dumping on his property. Looking for help, he said he called 911 and turned out that he was arrested.

“I informed these individuals that they were trespassing and that they couldn’t dump their refrigerator on my property, and I asked them to leave. They became irate and verbally attacked me,” the pastor said.

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“At the same time, these same individuals were threatening my life, telling me that my black life, and black lives matter stuff” did not sit well in the town, he explained.

“Being threatened and being in fear for my life, I took and felt compelled to pull my concealed weapon — legal concealed weapon, to save my life. And when I did that, finally, these individuals backed up long enough for me to call 911.”

When the police officers arrived on the place, they were to talk to the people who were bothering the pastor.

“They went and talked to them. They were still hollering racial epithets. They were still threatening my life. They were still telling me what they were going to do to me. What did the sheriff do?” McCray asked. “I was really never given the opportunity to tell what was going on.”

However, after the conversation, McCray said that the police officers returned and told him that he was under arrest for brandishing a firearm.

Being confussed with the situation, the The pastor asked the arresting officer, what would happen to the trespassing and assault charges against the trespassers.

But instead of giving him a reasonable response, the pastor said the police handcuffed and arrested him in front of his attackers.

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When McCray was released from custody later on the night of June 1, he submitted a written statement. Two days later on June 3, McCray sat down with Shenandoah County Sheriff Timothy Carter to discuss what happened. In his statement released last Friday, Carter said that if he were faced with similar circumstances, he “would have probably done the same thing.”

The Sheriff apologized to pastor Leon McCray  and announced that five people involved in the attack were arrested and that two department supervisors have been placed on unpaid administrative leave until a review is completed.

“Lastly, I have apologized to Mr. McCray, and I appreciate his patience as I have worked through these matters. I do listen to citizen complaints and I take them seriously,” Carter continued.

Carter initiated an immediate review of McCray’s charge. On Wednesday, the sheriff’s office dropped the charge against McCray.

“After talking with him about the incident, it was apparent to me that the charge of brandishing was certainly not appropriate,” Carter wrote in the statement.

The pastor talked about his terrible experience during a sermon saying it was “very traumatic”

“Very traumatic experience. I don’t know if you have ever been through anything like that. I never have. Very trying,” McCray said in a sermon broadcast on Facebook Live.

 

Source: The Christian Post

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