When it emerged that black teens attending a pool party at the Craig Ranch North Community Pool, in McKinney, Texas, had suffered gross abuse from the police, the issue sparked a nationwide outrage across the United States.
In the video, that was posted on YouTube and other social media channels, police-officer Eric Casebolt, was seen grabbing 15-year-old Dajerria Becton, unarmed and wearing a bikini, by the hair and wrestling her to the ground mercilessly.
According to BuzzFeed, the incident may have begun when adult residents made racist comments to black children attending the pool party.
Teens at the pool party told BuzzFeed News, that the police were called after a fight broke out between adults and youths at the pool. The fight was said to have started after the adults made racist comments, telling the black children to leave the area and return to ‘Section 8 [public] housing.’ The video went viral and became the number one trending topic on Twitter.
Since the incident, many have shared their opinion. Activists have said that the police used excessive force against the unarmed teens. Others have argued that the behavior of the teens called for that response from the police, as the teens refused to obey orders and used abusive language against the officers. One of such views was expressed on Fox4, in Dallas, where the journalist-Zahid Arab, interviewed local homeowners who witnessed the incident.
One of the homeowners defended the officers’ conduct by saying the “officers’ safety was at risk”.
“I feel absolutely horrible for the police and what’s going on… they were completely outnumbered and they were just doing the right thing when these kids were fleeing and using profanity and threatening security guards,” she said.
Extraordinarily, the homeowners that partook in the interview to defend the officers would not allow their faces to be shown on camera. Instead, they only allowed their hands to be filmed.
Apart from the anonymous people who defended the officers, the community pool that the teens attended also put up a sign thanking the officers. Zahid Arab, took pictures of the sign and posted them on Twitter for the avoidance of doubt. You can see his Twitter post, which shows what the community pool wrote in solidarity with the officers, below.
Pool just put up this sign supporting McKinney PD & thanking officers for their response Friday pic.twitter.com/P7bC9hULCF
— Zahid Arab (@ZahidArabFox4) June 7, 2015
Dajerria Becton, who was wrestled to the ground, also later told Arab in an interview, “I don’t think he should have pulled a gun out on 15-year-old kids… Him getting fired isn’t enough”.
But, an initial statement issued by the McKinney, Texas Police Department said “McKinney Police later learned of a video that was taken at the scene by an unknown party. This video has raised concerns that are being investigated by the McKinney Police Department. At this time, one of the responding officers has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of this investigation”.
Now that Eric Casebolt has resigned, it is unclear whether the matter will be investigated further. You can share your opinion with us regarding the statements showing support to the officers.
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What, there’s racism in Texas? I’m shocked. Everyone knows that the police are public servants and never act inappropriately. lol Knee jerk support of the police ( whether racially motivated or just ignorance ) is one of the main reasons that bully cops are becoming a plague on our nation. Perhaps, if racial slurs were being used by white residents at the pool, those individuals should be banned from the pool. If teens were using profanity and starting fights, they should be banned as well. In neither case were the actions of this one cop justified.