In McKinney, Texas, a pool party ended in chaos this weekend. A police officer (identified on Twitter as Eric Casebolt) is on administrative leave following his actions in this 7-minute video. Officers responded to a disruption at a community pool. Casebolt stormed upon the scene, literally, with guns blazing. He ran, tripping and somersaulting upon arrival. Casebolt yelled at several teens to stay on the ground before the action really began.
The party in question was an end-of-school-year event in the Dallas suburb, in what appears to be an affluent neighborhood. A 15-year-old teen, Brandon Brooks, captured the action and described what happened in his YouTube caption:
“A fight between a mom and a girl broke out and when the cops showed up everyone ran, including the people who didn’t do anything. So the cops just started putting everyone on the ground and in handcuffs for no reason. This kind of force is uncalled for especially on children and innocent bystanders.”
At around the 2:00 mark in the video, the unnamed officer can be seen grabbing a teenage girl and shoving her onto the ground. Fellow teens and surrounding adults swarmed the scene. The officer pulled his gun on two unarmed black teenage boys who came to the girl’s rescue. The officer then directed the girl, “On your face!” before pinning her down with his knee.
RT #craigranch #RETWEET pic.twitter.com/DjHf7I7njr
— old acc (@Xmukexziamx) June 6, 2015
By the end of the video, the girl and a boy were cuffed on the ground. Casebolt continued his tirade towards some teens seated on the grass.
Buzzfeed interviewed witnesses from the scene, who said many of the students were on guest passes at the pool. Some adults allegedly told the teens to go back to their “Section 8 [public] housing.” Brooks, the white teen who filmed the video, said he felt “invisible” as the action unfolded around him: “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.”
After this video surfaced, The McKinney Police Department placed Casebolt on administrative leave pending investigation and posted a statement to Facebook:
Twitter reactions place this story in social context.
https://twitter.com/ZahidArabFox4/status/607553268617613312/photo/1
https://twitter.com/_MCHRISTIANNE/status/607629365770391552
Anybody who wonders why blacks and whites have such differing views of police officers needs to watch the #McKinney video. Says it all.
— Kenny BooYah! 🖖🏾 (@KwikWarren) June 7, 2015
Grateful to #BlackTwitter for pointing out police brutality atrocities like the one in #McKinney. Otherwise stories like this are erased.
— Black Girl Nerds (@BlackGirlNerds) June 7, 2015
Wait a gotdamn minute. This #McKinney police officer hit a GAHTDAMN BARREL ROLL before attacking teenage black kids at a pool party?!
— Jawn Flick (@kidnoble) June 7, 2015
https://twitter.com/theonlybacchus/status/607626674402779136
https://twitter.com/tchopstl/status/607603149264814083
https://twitter.com/ZahidArabFox4/status/607554657037123584/photo/1