Howdy nurseanne84! You are SO logical! lol. I love that. Yes, the rope was just to keep him from running away, it was tied to his handcuffs, it wasn't a leash. We would not have heard from activists about this if it had been a white suspect, but like you said it's all about perception and you could not have designed a more inflamatory image! lol. It was just business as usual for the officers I'm sure, I'm sure they weren't mean racists but the optics fueled alot of outrage.
I never would have posted about it if I knew it was going to upset so many people! I just thought it was an interesting story and one that would not fit that look anywhere in the world except Texas because of our Western cowboy heritage. Thanks so much for commenting!