A white Texas cop was suspended after a video circulated on social media showing him pushing a bikini-clad black teen on the ground and putting her in handcuffs. He could be seen using his knee to pin the girl to the ground.
The cop also pointed his gun at other teens and shouted obscenities at them.
The policeman, identified as Cpl. Eric Casebolt, was one of 12 cops who responded to a call from Craig Ranch North, a private residential community, saying that a group of teenagers who were neither residents of the area nor had permission to be there were in the pool and refused to leave, and some of them appeared to be fighting, Fox News reports.
The police came to address the disturbance, but the harsh treatment of the young people raised questions of racial bias, particularly when the white cops seemed to target only the black teens, and the cops rounding up fleeing teenagers raised questions about whether the young people had engaged in any criminal activity that called for arrests.
"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. The cops just started putting everyone on the ground and in handcuffs for no reason," according to the video description on YouTube. The video was uploaded by someone named Brandon Brooks on June 6.
The McKinney police department issued a statement on Facebook, saying that the teenagers refused to comply with the police. However, they are concerned about the content of the video and are now investigating the incident.
DeKalb County Public Safety Director Cedric Alexander watched the video and agreed that the teenagers refused to obey the cops' orders to disperse.
"I thought the kids were not compliant whatsoever," he said. "That in itself is a problem. Those kids attempted to over-talk the police," CNN reports.
Even the 14-year-old girl who was pinned to the ground "was putting up resistance," he said. However, he said that Casebolt, who pinned the girl to the ground and handcuffed her, should have controlled his temper.
"They are teenagers and we are the professionals," Alexander said. "You can't allow emotions to get in the way."
McKinney police chief Greg Conley said that the cops arrested an adult male for for evading arrest and interfering with the duties of a peace officer. They also detained the teenage girl, but she was eventually released to her mother.
McKinney Mayor Brian Loughmiller said that he was "disturbed and concerned" by the content of the video. He is calling for a quick investigation of the incident.
