On June 1, Virginia pastor Dr. Leon McCray Sr. of Woodstock, Virginia, says he was visiting an apartment property he owned in nearby Edinburg when he came across a couple who were illegally dragging a refrigerator to his dumpster. After confronting McCray, the couple left and came back with three more people. All five people were white, while Pastor McCray is Black. McCray says the group surrounded him and then began slamming Black Lives Matter and telling McCray: “We would kill you.”
According to The Washington Post, it was at this point that things got really racist. The 61-year-old McCray, a 24-year Air Force master sergeant, pulled out a concealed handgun that he is legally permitted to carry. According to McCray, this gave him the opportunity to call 911. However, when law enforcement responded, they handcuffed and arrested McCray for “brandishing a gun.” McCray was on his own property, holding a gun that he was legally permitted to carry, while five white trespassers reportedly continued to throw racial epithets at him. “All this happened on my property. I said, what about the trespassing and the assault?”
Two days later McCray met with Shenandoah County Sheriff Timothy Carter, who listened to McCray’s case and began a review that included suspending two sheriff’s office supervisors, who have reportedly put on unpaid leave.
In a Facebook post on the Shenandoah County Sheriff’s Office page, Sheriff Timothy Carter gave out more information on the case and the reversal of charges. Sheriff Carter said he had apologized to to the pastor and that the five white assailants had not only been arrested, but that varying degrees of hate crime charges were being leveled against them. “As I told Mr. McCray, if I were faced with similar circumstances, I would have probably done the same thing.”
Sheriff Carter also recorded a video that he posted to the official Facebook page. McCray says he is awaiting the official dropping of his charges, but that he is appreciative that Sheriff Carter is doing what is right. “When someone does wrong, those in leadership positions should right that wrong quickly, just like they would do if it were them. [...] I just want things to change. They must change, and I won’t stop until it changes.”
There are a few major issues here. The most obvious of which are the clear racist overtones of the whole event. But, on a secondary level, the idea that the police in any area, would so thoroughly screw up as to leave potential violent criminals free to roam around while arrested a person with no criminal record who is legally within his rights, should be remarkable. This is doing a terrible job at law enforcement. You are protecting no one, in fact you are endangering more people, while serving criminal behavior.
According to the sheriff’s office, all five attackers are being held without bond with a July 17 court appearance on the docket. The total arrests and charges according to the sheriff’s office are:
Donny Richard Salyers, 43-years-old, is charged with
*Felony Abduction
*Assault: Hate Crime
*Assault by Mob
*Assault and Battery
Dennis James Salyers, 26-years-old, is charged with
*Felony Abduction
*Assault: Hate Crime
*Assault by Mob
*Assault and Battery
Farrah Lee Salyers, 42-years-old, is charged with
*Felony Abduction
*Assault: Hate Crime
*Assault by Mob
Christopher Kevin Sharp, 57-years-old, is charged with
*Felony Abduction
*Assault: Hate Crime
*Assault by Mob
*Trespassing
Amanda Dawn Salyers, 26-years-old, is charged with
*Assault: Hate Crime
*Assault by Mob
*Trespassing