Update! Eric Casebolt Has Resigned Amid Protests

Amid immense national scorn and public backlash, Police Corporal Eric Casebolt, has resigned. The fiasco began after receiving a frantic 911 call from the residents of the pool community, the Mckinney Police Department responded by sending nine officers to the scene of a pool party full of teenagers, celebrating the end of the school year.

A large outcry of unrest has followed the incident and residents are standing tall demanding better from the Mckinney Police

None of the teens at the party were armed nor did they present any danger to the police officers. This is why many around the country are demanding to know the reasoning behind former officer Casebolt throwing a fifteen year old girl (Dajerria Becton) to the ground and placing his knee in the small of her back. As if this wasn’t enough, Casebolt also pulled his gun on several other unarmed teens. The uproar has been so intense that the Mckinney Police Department has been forced to take on extra staff to answer all the phone calls demanding the firing of the officer.
Casebolt’s lawyer reported the resignation to Fox4, “"Casebolt had served in the Navy for a decade from 1993-2003. He was an operations specialist for seven years and in the military police for another three years," Fox 4 reports. "From 2003-2005 he was a highway patrol trooper with the Texas Department of Public Safety.” 

So the question now becomes, where do we go from here? All the phone calls and political pressure have gotten the officer fired and most likely will lead to a lawsuit in favor of Dajarria Becton, but will anything actually change? I know I am not alone in noticing that instances of police officers using excessive force seem to be popping up all over the country. The time has come for real change on a national level that will change the culture of policing here in America. In addition, even though every candidate has except Hillary Clinton has been completely silent on this serious issue, I hope that all this political pressure will lead to something happening on Capitol Hill. Comment at the bottom of this page and join the discussion. 

Pool Party Chaos in Texas

The Texas police officer that has now become famous on the internet for throwing a young African-American teen on the ground and pulling a gun on several others, has been suspended, pending the outcome of further investigation into the situation by the Mckinney Police Department. Police were believed to have been called to the scene by neighbors claiming that the teens were “refusing to leave” and fighting.

The teens were celebrating an end of the school year party, as is customary for this time of year. It seems the trouble arose once some neighbors became upset with the fact that many of the kids didn't live in the neighborhood and were making use of the pool. Several of the teens reported racial slurs and hate speech coming from racist neighbors directed towards the African American teens. When the police showed up, the teens were confused as to why they were being ordered to leave. The main police officer being investigated is seen in a seven minute youtube video, screaming orders and demanding that some African-American kids, “put their face in the grass!” One young girl was even thrown to the ground viscously as she screamed for her mother. The scene became chaotic when the young girl, yelling for help, drew the attention of her young male friends who got in a fighting stance in the direction of the police officer. This caused patrol supervisor Cpl. Eric Casebolt to draw his weapon and head in the direction of the young men. It is a terrifying moment to see the fear in the kid’s eyes as they run for their lives and other officers begin to give chase. Cpl. Cansel then went back to what he was doing, handcuffing and placing his knee on the lower back of this young girl.

There has been a lot of controversy lately about the proper use of force and police violence, however, I think we all can agree after watching this video, that something went terribly wrong. 

             The Mckinney Police Department had this to say on their Facebook page, “On June, 5 2015 at approximately 7:15., officer from the Mckinney Police Department responded to a disturbance at the Craig Ranch North Community Pool. The initial call came in as a disturbance involving multiple juveniles at the location, who do not live in the area or have permission to be there, refusing to leave McKinney Police received several additional calls related to this incident advising that juveniles were now actively fighting.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. At this time, one of the responding officers has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of this investigation."

The gravest reason for concern is the blatant discrimination of the African-American juveniles. Why was it that the police immediately assumed that the African-American kids didn’t live there? Are there no African-American families living in that neighborhood? Brandon Brooks, who shot the 7 minute long youtube video, told the HuffPost that, "a bunch of white parents were angry that a bunch of black kids who don’t live in the neighborhood were in the pool.” This is unacceptable and the community may have more to look into than just an overly aggressive officer.