A McKinney, Texas police officer has been placed on administrative leave after video surfaced showing him brutally handcuffing multiple Black teens who were attending a neighborhood pool party.
The officer, who has been reportedly identified as Cpl. Eric Casebolt, was responding to a call on Friday evening after receiving reports of a fight between adults and teens at an end-of-the-year pool party. However, when Casebolt arrived on the scene, he began targeting the minority guests, cursing at them to either get on the ground or leave the scene. The entire incident was caught on video.
“Everyone who was getting put on the ground was Black, Mexican Arabic,” Brandon Brooks, who recorded the video and who is White, told BuzzFeed News. “[The officer] didn’t even look at me. It was kind of like I was invisible.”
At one point, Casebolt can be seen tackling 14-year-old Dajerria Becton while pulling on her hair, forcing her to lie facedown in the grass while he knelt on her back as onlookers screamed. When two other teenagers tried to come to her aid, Casebolt threatened them with a gun. Multiple teens were handcuffed and detained, but only one was taken to the police station.
One teen, who was present at the party, told BuzzFeed that he believed neighborhood residents were upset that “a bunch of Black kids who don’t live in the neighborhood” came to the pool, though most of the teens had guest passes permitting them to use the facilities.
Witnesses said that the alleged fight broke out after White adults at the pool began telling the Black teens to go back to their “Section 8 housing.” Yesterday, the neighborhood pool hung up a sign thanking the police department for “keeping us safe.”
The city of McKinney is 75 percent White and 10 percent Black. In 2004, the police department was the subject of a Department of Justice investigation looking into its use discriminatory tactics.
Casebolt is currently on administrative leave while the department investigates the incident.