News

Actions

Texas cop suspended after video shows brutal pool party arrest of black teens

Posted at 11:01 AM, Jun 08, 2015
and last updated 2015-06-08 11:01:17-04

MCKINNEY, Texas — A Texas police officer is on leave after video emerges of an arrest of multiple teens at a community pool party.

A  7-minute video was posted to YouTube Saturday and shows officers running after teens, with one in particular aggressively handcuffing a black male teen while pinning a black girl to the ground by her head as she cried for her mother.

“A fight between a mom and a girl broke out and the cops were called” according to Brandon Brooks, who shot the video.  “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.” The video describes.

Brooks told Buzzfeed News ” I think a bunch of white parents were angry that a bunch of black kids who don’t live in the neighborhood were at the pool.”

Other teens told Buzzfeed the police were called after a fight broke out between adults and teens at the pool.  Some adults made racist comments and told them to return to “Section 8 [public] housing.”

According to a statement posted to Facebook, Texas police responded on Friday evening to a disturbance around 7:15 pm regarding a group of teenagers who did not have permission to use the pool.

First responding officers encountered a large crowd that refused to comply with police commands. Nine additional units responded to the scene. Officers were eventually able to gain control of the situation.

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.

One of the responding officers has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.