About 800 people marched in a peaceful rally through the Dallas-area city of McKinney, Texas, on Monday, carrying signs demanding an end to police brutality and calling for police accountability in a pool party incident where a video shows a police officer throwing a bikini-clad girl to the ground and pointing his pistol at the other youths in the party.
McKinney Police Cpl. Eric Casebolt was seen in the video aggressively throwing a black teenage girl to the ground while responding to a disturbance caused by a multicultural pool party, according to Reuters.
The police officer, a 10-year veteran and a former patrolman of the year, has been placed on administrative leave. He has also been questioned by authorities on Monday, as reported by ABC News. So far, however, he has not released any statement about the incident.
Civil rights leaders and activists believe that the incident, as well as the aggressive manner in which it transpired, was racially motivated.
Dominique Alexander, president of the Next Generation Action and one of the key persons who organized the rally, believes that justice is due.
"We are demanding that the officer be fired and charged with assaulting the youth," he said.
Dajerria Becton, the 15-year old girl who was thrown to the ground, has also spoken about the incident, according to Reuters. She states that the officer twisted her arm and grabbed her hair.
"Him getting fired isn't enough," he said.
Some residents of the area have spoken in support of the officer, however, stating that the fault lies with the teens, who refused to listen to the officers when they were first called out for their noise. Hence, the incident was not about race at all, but simply about unruly behavior, according to those residents.
