`Dreadhead Cowboy' pleads guilty to animal cruelty charge

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CHICAGO (AP) — A man known as the “Dreadhead Cowboy” has pleaded guilty to animal cruelty in connection with a rush-hour horseback ride he took along Chicago's Dan Ryan Expressway in 2020.

Adam Hollingsworth pleaded guilty Friday to aggravated animal cruelty and was sentenced to a year in prison by a Cook County judge, court records show.

With credit he earned while on electronic home monitoring as his case was pending, Hollingsworth could be released from the Cook County Jail as early as Monday.

Hollingsworth was arrested in September 2020 after disrupting traffic on the Dan Ryan Expressway while galloping his horse, Nunu, amid rush hour traffic in an act of civil disobedience he said was intended to draw attention to gun violence against children.^[1]

Hollingsworth’s ride resulted in extensive delays on the expressway, with traffic backed up for miles.

Officials initially said the horse was so severely injured by the eight-mile ride on asphalt that it might have to be euthanized, but Nunu was later reported to have significantly recovered.

Hollingsworth had become known earlier in 2020 for his positive interactions with police and protesters amid frequent protests against police brutality. He had also made appearances in Chicago neighborhoods to promote the U.S. census.

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