Did Cop Go Too Far At Texas Pool Party?

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Did Cop Go Too Far At Texas Pool Party?

UPDATE:  Cpl. Eric Casebolt, the cop who pulled his gun on a group of teens while forcing an innocent 15-year-old girl to the ground has now resigned from the McKinney, TX police department.

Did a Texas police officer go too far when he pulled a gun on a group of African-American teens at a pool party, while forcing a 15-year-old swimsuit clad girl to the ground with his knee? That is the question an already skittish nation is asking, in what is being called yet another racially charged case of police brutality.

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Cpl. Eric Casebolt, a white police officer in McKinney, Texas, has been suspended after a shocking video showed him manhandling, arresting and drawing his gun on a group of black children outside a pool party.  An amateur YouTube video of the racially charged scene in a suburban community near Dallas, captured Casebolt throwing 15-year-old Dajerria Becton onto a sidewalk while using his body weight to push her head into the concrete.

“Call my mama, oh God!” a crying Becton was heard screaming as Casebolt forced her to the ground. “On your face!” he ordered while slamming her face-first into the grass.

Several teens raced toward Casebolt to assist the unidentified female, prompting him to curse and randomly handcuff anyone in sight. He then pulled his gun on the children before several officers intervened.

The melee ignited last Saturday when 15-year-old Tatyana Rhodes held an end-of-school-year pool party for several of her friends. The Craig Ranch North community pool in a suburb of Dallas is private and requires a pool pass, however Rhodes lives in the neighborhood and did have the necessary pool pass, as did most of the kids in attendance.

According to Rhodes, several white residents took issue with so many black teens in “their” pool and even voiced dissatisfaction.  “Go back to your Section 8 home,” a white resident shouted at the black teens. Police then received an anonymous “disturbance” call to address a group of teenagers who “do not live in the area or have permission to be there.”

That is when Casebolt and several other officers arrived on the scene and overreacted.

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“I think a bunch of white parents were angry that a bunch of black kids who don’t live in the neighborhood were in the pool,” Brandon Brooks, a white teen in attendance said. “Everyone who was getting put on the ground was black, Mexican, Arabic,” he added. The cop “didn’t even look at me. It was kind of like I was invisible.”

McKinney Mayor Brian Loughmiller released a statement saying he is “disturbed and concerned by the incident” captured in the video.

“Our expectation as a City Council is that our police department and other departments will act professionally and with appropriate restraint relative to the situation they are faced with.”

Scores of black residents protested outside the McKinney Police Department on Monday, looking for answers.  The Next Generation Action Network is calling for Casebolt to “be fired and charged with assaulting the youth,” Dominique Alexander, the group’s president, told Reuters. The social justice group is also organizing a rally in McKinney for next Monday.

Several white residents have since applauded the actions of Casebolt, with one even saying the officer “deserves a medal” for handling the situation in the manner he did.

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