McKinney pool party video: Protests over police drawing gun at teenagers
Hundreds of people took to the streets in McKinney, Texas, following the incident with a police officer pulling a gun on black teenagers at a pool party. While some protesters held signs similar to "Black Lives Matter" movement, others sided with police.
READ MORE: Outrage as Texas cops break up teenage pool party, violently force black girl to ground
Crowds rallied outside an elementary school in the Dallas suburb of McKinney on Monday, KDFW reported. Many of those who took part in the peaceful protest were not locals, the broadcaster said.
McKinney Texas: Large protest underway at this hour, and @deray, reports McKinney Police have blocked neighborhoods pic.twitter.com/npGHQ4sLgv
— Nick Hennen (@tweetbrk) June 9, 2015
Demonstrators held signs reading, "My skin color is not a crime," and "Don't tread on our kids," as well as other banners similar to those that appeared in the streets of US after incidents in Ferguson, New York and Baltimore, that fueled a nationwide "Black Lives Matter" movement last year.
Always. McKinney. pic.twitter.com/5UFYFuKOqW
— deray mckesson (@deray) June 9, 2015
READ MORE: Protesters mark New Year with 'Black Lives Matter' marches across US
Some 800 people reportedly marched through McKinney, having walked from a school to the swimming pool, with local civil rights leaders saying they wanted an investigation by the US Justice Department.
Nearby, a counter-protest was reportedly organized, with over 150 people rallying at the McKinney Police Department. Demonstrators were waving flags and holding "Back the Blue" signs.
READ MORE: ‘Brute handling’: Black student’s bloody arrest prompts college protest
People in Texas have been taking sides as fallout continues after a pool incident video that went viral around the world last week. It shows a local white police officer rounding up teenagers at a pool party, pinning a black bikini-clad girl to the ground and pulling his gun on her black friends.
City officials in McKinney plan to meet with community leaders to discuss the incident, Mayor Brian Loughmiller said, as quoted by Fox News. The officer featured in the video was identified as a 41-year-old Eric Casebolt, who joined the local police force in 2005. He was put on administrative leave following the incident.
A black local radio personality, Benét Embry, who witnessed the incident, said it wasn't "another Ferguson" nor Baltimore, but just "a teenage party that got out of hand," Fox News reported him as saying.
