Courtney and Nicole Mallery say one of their workers and animals were killed by white neighbors
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Two black ranchers in Colorado have been arrested on stalking charges after claiming they had been the victims of an intimidation campaign orchestrated by white neighbors and the police.
Courtney and Nicole Mallery, of El Paso County, Colorado, have said they have been subjected to racial abuse, as well as “acts of vandalism and animal mutilation of their livestock.” They have also accused the neighbors of murdering a man who worked for them.
In a statement this week, the Mallerys said: “Unfortunately, there are still corrupt police officers and racist individuals trying to stop minority farmers from using their farmland because of their race.”
The couple said police have not investigated their claims of harassment, something the local sheriff’s office has denied. The Mallerys own about 1,000 acres in eastern El Paso County called Freedom Acres Ranch.
The Mallery dispute first drew national attention thanks to a January article posted on the website. Ark Republic. The dispute between neighbors is believed to be over a property line.
Nicole Mallery, pictured here, said this week: “We’re being harassed, harassed, chased, followed, there’s been spray paint where they put ‘n*****’ on items in our house.”
Courtney has filed six restraining orders against a neighbor in her county, reports 9 News.
The station says the neighbor filed a similar warrant against her, alleging that she was stalked and harassed.
The neighbor in question was named as Teresa Clark by Colorado Public Radio.
Courtney says Clark entered her property uninvited, pointed weapons, damaged a gate and security cameras, and made threats on social media.
While Clark alleges that Courtney hurt his horse and loosed some of his animals.
nicole said CBS News: “They harass us, they harass us, they chase us, they follow us, there’s been spray paint where they put ‘n*****’ on items in our house.”
A GoFundMe effort set up by a relative of Mallery’s, Geneva B., of Colorado Springs, has raised $60,000.
Geneva wrote on the page that the Mallerys had set up their ranch after losing everything in Hurricane Harvey, a storm that devastated Texas and Louisiana in 2017.
He said the Mallerys are fighting for their land in “a predominantly white and hostile Colorado county.” The money raised will go towards improving security measures at the ranch.
The couple bought the ranch in August 2020. Since the harassment began, Courtney told Ark Republic that she estimates she has lost $200,000.
On Tuesday, Courtney Mallery was released on bail after her arrest on speaking charges.
Nicole Mallery filmed her husband’s arrest by state police
Nicole was later arrested on similar charges of harassment, released an hour later.
Mallery pictured with his animals, whom he gave names like George Floyd, Breonna and Juneteenth
That page alleges that the couple is the victim of a far-reaching conspiracy that includes El Paso County Sheriff’s Deputy Sgt. Emory ‘Ray’ Gerhart, who tries to drive the Mallerys off his land.
Courtney told Ark Republic that she has footage of Gerhart looking at her property. He said: ‘Gerhart told me if I keep calling the police he’s going to arrest me… They’re trying to steal my land and lock us up to cover this up.’
On the Change.org petition page created by Courtney, calling for Gerhart’s firing, it says that someone who worked on his ranch, Donaciano Amaya, was murdered on his property and left for the couple to find.
In May 2021, local media reported that Amaya’s death was being investigated as a homicide.
In her interview with Ark Republic, Courtney said that Amaya was found dead in her chicken coop and that after the ‘homicide’, the ranch hand’s wife disappeared. The couple’s son is now in the custody of relatives.
Donaciano Amaya, the Mallery ranch hand, was found dead in his chicken coop in May 2021
Photographs of Mallery’s dead animals on his property
The couple alleges that their neighbors were responsible for the murders.
Deputy Gerhart is married to Judge Shannon Gerhart, who sits on the 4th County Judicial Court in Colorado.
Courtney says in the petition blurb that he is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps. He continued: “Despite fighting for our country, my family and I have faced threats of lynching and hanging and now live in constant fear for our lives in rural Colorado Springs.”
Courtney was arrested Monday on a felony stalking warrant. She was posted his $6,000 bail and was released after spending a night in jail. Nicole was released about an hour after her arrest.
A judge ruled that one of the conditions for Courtney’s release was that she not have any contact with her neighbors. Judge Deborah Pearson told the court: “The court is concerned about the risk to the victims and the community as part of this harassment case.”
Judge Shannon Gerhart of the Colorado 4th County Judicial Court is the wife of one of the police officers the Mallerys say is harassing them.
Courtney Mallery is a Marine Corps veteran who purchased the ranch in August 2020.
Courtney will appear in court again on February 14. His wife is due to appear in court on Thursday.
9 News is now reporting that the NAACP is investigating Mallery’s claims. Rocky Mountain chapter president Portia Prescott told 9 News: “I really hope the El Paso County Sheriff’s Department and several others in rural areas understand that we are taking this very seriously.”
In a separate interview with CPR, Prescott said: ‘It’s a very sensitive situation. This has been going on since 2021, but it intensified in March. You never know who is telling the truth and who is not.
Prescott went on to say that the two parties are fighting over a dividing property line that is not clearly defined by the documents.
While the sheriff’s office said in a news release that they responded to 170 calls related to the Mallerys and investigated 19 different complaints.
The office said they will release documents and body camera videos to support their claims. At the time of writing, the materials have not been published.
One sentence of the press release read: “The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office vehemently denies these allegations.”
According to CPR, El Paso County Sheriff Joseph Roybal is trying to get the Black and Latino Leadership Coalition to mediate the dispute.