Police apologize to black pastor who was arrested after he called cops because he was being beaten and abused by white family

Police have apologized to a black pastor from Woodstock, Virginia, who was arrested after he called police when a white family beat and cursed at him.

Leon McCray had confronted the family members when he found two of them dumping a refrigerator on his property in Edinburg on June 1.

Three more family members came and allegedly attacked McCray, who pulled out his concealed firearm to fend off the attackers. 

But when cops arrived, they arrested the pastor on a charge for brandishing a weapon. 

Shenandoah County Sheriff Timothy Carter on Friday dropped the charge after meeting with the McCray because the top cop says he found the pastor's arrest was 'certainly not appropriate,' according to a statement on Facebook.

The family members - Donny Salyers, 43, Dennis Salyers, 26, Farrah Salyers, 42, Christopher Sharp, 57, and Amanda Salyers, 26, face hate crimes and assault charges. 

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Leon McCray, a black pastor from Woodstock, Virginia, called police when a white family beat and cursed at him but was also arrested when cops arrived because he pulled out his concealed weapon to fend off the attackers.

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The family members in the alleged attack on Pastor Leon McCray include Farrah Salyers (left), 42, and Dennis Salyers (right), 26

Three other family members accused in the alleged attack on Pastor Leon McCray are Christopher Sharp, 57,  Donny Salyers, 43, and Amanda Salyers, 26

McCray, the pastor of Lighthouse Church & Marketplace Ministries International recalled the incident as 'a day that changed my life,' during his sermon Sunday, as he spoke of the George Floyd protests and Black Lives Matter movement.    

The pastor said he confronted two of the family members after they dumped a refrigerator on his Edinburg property, but 'one of the individuals got in my face.'

The other returned with three more family members, he recalls.

'Now I got five people, three males and two females in my face attacking me verbally and physically and threatening to kill me,' he told his congregation, adding that he was told that his 'black life didn't matter.'

That's when he pulled out his gun to defend himself and the family members left, the pastor says. 

'I took and felt compelled to pull my concealed weapon, legally concealed weapon, to save my life,' he says in the video of his sermon

He then called 911, but when as many as 10 cops arrived, he claimed they did not hear him out and took his weapon.

'I was not given an opportunity to speak,' says McCray.

Instead, the cops spoke with the family members and McCray was later arrested for brandishing the gun. 

'Long story short, they came back to me and said we got to arrest you for brandishing a firearm. And I said what about the the trespassing and the assault?' says McCray in his recollection of the incident.

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McCray (left), the pastor of Lighthouse Church & Marketplace Ministries International recalled the incident as 'a day that changed my life,' during his sermon Sunday, as he spoke of the George Floyd protests and Black Lives Matter movement

The arresting officer also was a cop the pastor knew for two decades in the community, McCray says. He says he was handcuffed and placed into a squad car as the family members continued yelling. 

'They waving at me as I go down the road, now you think about this, how disturbing,' McCray says.

Sheriff Carter in his Facebook statement said he met the pastor and saw no reason to charge him for pulling out the gun.

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Shenandoah County Sheriff Timothy Carter on Friday dropped the charge after meeting with the McCray because the top cop says he found the pastor's arrest was 'certainly not appropriate,' according to a statement on Facebook

'Mr. McCray met with me on Wednesday the 3rd of June, and after talking with him about the incident, it was apparent to me that the charge of brandishing was certainly not appropriate,' Carter says.

'Actually, as I told Mr. McCray, if I were faced with similar circumstances, I would have probably done the same thing.'

'I met twice with the Shenandoah Commonwealth’s Attorney, and she has reviewed the case, and agreed with the assessment of the brandishing charge, in that she would drop this charge,' explained the sheriff in how he made his decision.