Pool Party Teen: Cop Shoved Me, Pulled My Hair

Texas police have named the cop suspended after busting up a party at a community pool in McKinney. Eric Casebolt, who appears to pull a 15-year-old girl to the ground before pointing his gun at two teens in a YouTube video, has been put on administrative leave, reports the Dallas Morning News. "He told me to keep walking so we kept walking," Dajerria Becton tells KDFW. Suddenly, "he grabbed me, twisted my arm on my back, and shoved me in the grass, and started pulling the back of my braids." McKinney Mayor Brian Loughmiller says he is "disturbed and concerned by the incident," while some say it was a clear example of racism. "We're not here to cause a riot or be Baltimore all over again," says a resident, who is black. "We're just here to be treated fairly and equally." But others say officers did their duty. "I don't know any other way he could have taken her down or established order," says a black radio personality, adding Dajerria was talking back to officers.

Though the community pool is said to be limited to area residents, Brandon Brooks, who shot the now-viral video, tells Buzzfeed some teenagers were using guest passes. Others jumped over a fence, he says. Guests say adults at the pool told black teens to go back to "Section 8 housing," which prompted a dispute. Still, "this is a classic example of how something can escalate out of control very quickly by the actions of the officers, not by what was going on," a criminal defense lawyer and former McKinney officer says. Community activists are calling on police to fire Casebolt, but "him getting fired isn't enough," says Dajerria. Casebolt is a 10-year veteran who received an award for "Patrolman of the Year" in 2008, reports CBS News. He previously served as a highway patrol trooper and a military police member in the US Navy. (More Texas stories.)