Incidents in Baltimore, Ferguson and elsewhere have pitted police and their allies against the community. But the reaction to a video that exposed the brutal treatment of black teens at a pool party in McKinney, Texas may be different.
Pete Schutle, a former McKinney police officer and “longtime reserve deputy,” spoke to Fox4 Dallas and blasted the conduct of Eric Casebolt, the police corporal shown slamming a 15-year-old girl in a swimsuit to the ground.
“I don’t care what she was yelling at that officer. Anything would not have justified throwing her to the ground and pushing her down and throwing her face into the concrete like he did,” Schutle said.
Schulte also said there was no reason for Casebolt to have drawn his weapon and described Casebolt’s reaction to the situation as “crazy.” Watch:
According to Schulte, the video indicates that the McKinney police had a race problem. “There is an indication based on watching the video that the white people who were around the officers weren’t talked to, they weren’t pushed away, they weren’t told to get on the ground, they weren’t put in handcuffs. The only individuals McKinney police were doing that to were those that were African-American,” he said.
A group called Next Generation Action Network is organizing a protest of the McKinney Police on Monday night at 6:30PM.