A video uploaded to YouTube on Saturday shows predominantly white cops detaining, handcuffing and, at one point, physically holding down black teenagers at a neighborhood pool. At one point, an unidentified white officer grabs a black teenage girl in a bikini by the hair and wrestles her to the ground. When other black teenagers try to intervene, that cop draws his weapon and briefly chases after two black young men. After these two African American young men flee, the cop returns to the girl in the bikini, forcing her face into the ground and then sitting on her in an apparent effort to prevent her from standing up.
This cop may face disciplinary charges. A statement issued by the McKinney, Texas Police Department says that “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.”
The statement also claims that police responded to a “disturbance at the Craig Ranch North Community Pool” regarding “multiple juveniles at the location, who do not live in the area or have permission to be there, refusing to leave,” and that “Police received several additional calls related to this incident advising that juveniles were now actively fighting.”
It’s unclear whether some or all of the teens were actually at the pool without permission, but it appears likely that they believed that they were attending a pool party that was open to the public. Zahid Arab, a reporter for a local Fox affiliate, reported that a party at the local pool was advertised on social media:
The pool party was advertised on social media. Homeowners say none of the nearly 70 people were allowed to be there pic.twitter.com/pZZy9htEK3
— Zahid Arab (@ZahidArabFox4) June 7, 2015
The police department’s claim that “juveniles were now actively fighting” may also be literally true, but subsequent reporting suggests that white adults who lived in the neighborhood bear the lion’s share of the blame for this fighting. According to teens interviewed by BuzzFeed News, “the police were called after a fight broke out between adults and youths at the pool after the adults made racist comments telling the black children to leave the area and return to ‘Section 8 [public] housing.’” One white teen added that “when she and her friends objected to the racist comments about public housing an adult woman then became violent.”
Source :thinkprogress
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