Cop Suspended After Video Emerges Of Brutal Arrests At Teen

[Shooby]

www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/07/mckinney-police-pool-party_n_7530164.html

A Texas police officer has been suspended pending the outcome of an investigation after video surfaced showing one cop pulling a gun on a crowd of teens at a pool party while others handcuffed teenage partygoers.

Police on Friday evening were called to the Craig Ranch North Community Pool in McKinney, roughly 40 miles north of Dallas. McKinney police said in a statement they were responding to a disturbance "involving multiple juveniles at the location, who do not live in the area or have permission to be there, refusing to leave," and that some of them were fighting.

A roughly 7-minute clip of the incident was published on YouTube Saturday and shows officers running after teens, with one aggressively handcuffing a black male teen while pinning a black girl to the ground by her head as she cried for her mother.

[djAdvocate]

what happened to the right to peaceably assemble?

[mmhmm]

I've seen this video and read a bit about the incident. The video doesn't start until the police are there and actions are being taken. There are conflicting stories as to what led up to the police being called in the first place and what happened when they first arrived. There's really not enough information available right now to make any reliable determination, not having been there. It looks like an over-reaction on the part of the police. To my mind, pulling a gun on unarmed kids is over-reaction. However, as I said, I don't have enough information to be sure of that.

[Wisconsin Beth]

Is this on the one with the kids at the pool? 

[djAdvocate]

Jun 8, 2015 14:37:56 GMT -5 Wisconsin Beth said:

Is this on the one with the kids at the pool? 

the same.

[Wisconsin Beth]

Ok, haven't seen the video but read a blurb on it. 

[justme]

Jun 8, 2015 8:57:07 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

what happened to the right to peaceably assemble?

Sounds like it's a neighborhood pool only for residents, so if they don't live there and aren't the guest of someone who is then that sounds like trespassing to me. My condo will kick you out if you are at the pool without a resident and I'm sure they'd call the police if needed.

That said, from what I saw it does seen a bit excessive.

[Deleted]

this is a good example of why videos are great.  Put one on every cop.  I had a video camera on me ~20years ago when I bartended.  It is easy to do now and just part of the job if we make it that way.

[Deleted]

No opinion here. It seemed like a lot of people were trying to interfere with the officer and causing a lot of confusion/distraction. Then people were running away. Seemed very out of control and like the officer could not get a complete set of facts out of anyone.

It was hard to tell how many kids were actually being the problem originally, but it did seem like there was just one or two police there trying to control a large # of people. Could not tell who the troublemakers were vs nosey neighbors, but a lot of people milling around. 

[ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ]

I'd like to see a video of what was going on beforehand - in order for the police to have to be called in.

From what I gather, there were trespassers/party crashers there who were uninvited and had no business being there. They *may* have resisted leaving or being escorted off the property and then police had to be called - especially if things got out of hand.

[OldCoyote]

I heard one of the members of that community had invited these kids over for a pool party.

That is the same thing the girl said.

[OldCoyote]

Here is the link.

thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/06/08/3667030/texas-pool-party-host-alleges-white-woman-slapped-used-racial-slurs-cops-arrived/

Was the white woman arrested??    Naaa, I didn't think so.

[Tennesseer]

Race, the Supreme Court, and the McKinney Pool

After a video spread widely over the weekend showing a police officer slamming a teenage girl to the ground and drawing his sidearm on others in McKinney, Texas, people everywhere are asking how this could happen. Why did police respond so forcefully to kids taking over the pool on the last day of school?

A case before the Supreme Court of the United States yields some answers about the factors that led McKinney residents to call the police in the first place. Some time this month, the court will render its verdict in Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. The Inclusive Communities Project, Inc.—which draws on the racial and housing divisions exposed in McKinney this past weekend. McKinney specifically is connected to the Supreme Court case, and the future for this suburb and many others like it is bound to the court’s decision.

On Friday, police officers responded to a call about black teenagers showing up at a private community swimming pool in McKinney, which is north of Dallas. For the McKinney Independent School District, Friday was graduation day, and according to reports, a call had gone out on social media for kids to show up at the pool in the tony Craig Ranch subdivision on the west side of the city. Some of the kids who showed up for the party didn’t have guest passes.

Teens who attended the party told BuzzFeed that a fight broke out when some adults told some black children to return to their Section 8 housing. The insult is barbed economically, racially, and geographically. While east McKinney is about 50 percent white, west McKinney is almost 90 percent white. Public housing developments that accept Section 8 vouchers are almost exclusively situated east of U.S. Highway 75. The adults were more or less telling the black kids to go back to their side of town.

Rest of article here:

Race, the Supreme Court, and the McKinney Pool

[Deleted]

From what is written so far it looks like a white couple at the pool incited the incident verbally and physically. 

According to 19-year-old community member Tatiana, who put together the event to celebrate the end of the school year, several white people at the pool hurled racial slurs at her friends, calling one a “black f-er” and talking about Section 8 public housing. When 14-year-old friend Grace Stone stood up for the group, saying the comments were racist, the man and woman started berating her. Tatiana alleges she stepped in to tell the white couple that they shouldn’t verbally attack a young girl, at which point they told her to “go back to [her] Section 8 home.” One woman, identified as Kate, allegedly slapped Tatiana in the face, before attacking the teenager with the help of another woman.
Tatiana’s mother, who was also featured in the YouTube video, responded, “I’m just upset that we couldn’t have a peaceful event. [If] it was any issue that they truly had, they should’ve came to me, the adult that was here at the event…and not go to that extreme.”

With the other information on pre-existing tensions in that city it seems like the black kids that were trying to run had reason to. I am sure they thought they were getting tagged for something they didn't do.

I hope this one blows up in the right way. The asshats that initiated the attack should be taken in.

[ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ]

I don't care what "color" the kids were - if they were uninvited at a private party, they had no business just showing up because of some "open invitation" someone (probably another kid) just happened to post on social media.

It's no different than some kid having a party when their parents aren't home and word spreads - and 50 (uninvited) kids show up & crash the party & trash the house.

[Opti]

Jun 8, 2015 8:57:07 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

what happened to the right to peaceably assemble?

What happened to the right to stand your ground?   Are yew one of thos anti-gun nuts?

[djAdvocate]

Jun 8, 2015 21:35:26 GMT -5 Opti said:

Jun 8, 2015 8:57:07 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

what happened to the right to peaceably assemble?

What happened to the right to stand your ground?   Are yew one of thos anti-gun nuts?

no, i am actually pro gun, so long as it protects my right to own heavy artillery and anti-aircraft weapons. 

[mmhmm]

Jun 8, 2015 21:31:06 GMT -5 ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ said:

I don't care what "color" the kids were - if they were uninvited at a private party, they had no business just showing up because of some "open invitation" someone (probably another kid) just happened to post on social media.

It's no different than some kid having a party when their parents aren't home and word spreads - and 50 (uninvited) kids show up & crash the party & trash the house.

If something shows up on your Facebook asking you to attend a party, how do you know it's showing up on a bunch of other people's Facebook, or other social media? You don't. All you know, especially as a young teen, is you've been invited to a party. I don't know very many teens who'd think otherwise. They're not invading someone's house. They're going to a pool party. Teens aren't going to see that as an equivalent.

[OldCoyote]

Here is a longer version of the cell phone video.

www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/06/08/412889290/texas-pool-party-update-teens-and-residents-speak-out.

Most of the kids In the video appear to be well behaved,  I did notice that there were white kids there also, I sure did not see the police telling them to sit down!!

[mmhmm]

There's also a video of two rather large white women who have a black girl (possibly, the one seen later on the ground with the policeman) by the hair. What happened to bring that on? We don't know. We also don't know if the "white" kids were told to sit down, or not. I've seen the videos on this, as I've been following it pretty closely.

[Deleted]

Jun 8, 2015 21:31:06 GMT -5 ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ said:

I don't care what "color" the kids were - if they were uninvited at a private party, they had no business just showing up because of some "open invitation" someone (probably another kid) just happened to post on social media.

It's no different than some kid having a party when their parents aren't home and word spreads - and 50 (uninvited) kids show up & crash the party & trash the house.

They were invited by the host, who lived in the community with the pool, according to her statement. No crashing according to her.

[happyhoix]

The girl who invited the people to the party is some kind of 'event organizer' although this was only the second event she organized. It was a party with food and a DJ, was advertised as free, and was held at this community pool. I assume it was a restricted pool because you had to have a pass or guest pass to get in. I don't know if this person arranged with the pool before hand to host the party, or if she assumed it was a public space and she didn't need to get permission.

Apparently the invitation went out over social media and about 70 kids showed up. Those without guest passes climbed the fence. One of the parents there claimed the music was loud and had lyrics young children, or even teens, shouldn't be listening to, so he called the police.

Apparently there was a shouting match prior to the police showing up, between the residents at the pool and the party goers. When the police got there, they instructed the teens to disperse, and not all of them did. The girl in the video refused to leave, and continued to scream from the sidelines, and I guess that finally got on that police officer's last nerve. He had already used his handcuffs on other teens, and his partners had run off, chasing down some other kids, so he tackled this girl. Stupid move.

IMHO the police could have handled it better by staying calm and just dispersing the rowdy kids. However, I wasn't there, I don't know how riled up and hostile the kids were. I think the pool needs to change it's policies - clearly they must have known a party was going to be there, when they saw the food and the DJ equipment arrive. If it wasn't approved, the pool should have shut it down right there. If it was approved, the pool should have rules about how loud the music can be, what kind of music is allowed (no R rated, etc) and how many people are allowed to attend. When too many kids showed up, they should have taken control of the situation early on (the pool apparently has security people).

I think there is plenty of poor choices all around, but I don't think the cop deserves to be fired. I think he panicked.

[djAdvocate]

panicking can get you in a lot of trouble.

[ArchietheDragon]

Jun 9, 2015 11:25:02 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

panicking can get you in a lot of trouble.

I panicked at work once and ended up having to reclass a debit to a credit.   


It was touch and go for a short time. 

[billisonboard]

Jun 9, 2015 9:59:01 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

...

... I don't think the cop deserves to be fired. I think he panicked.

If he hadn't have pulled his gun out of the holster, I would agree.

[happyhoix]

Jun 9, 2015 12:21:49 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

Jun 9, 2015 9:59:01 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

...

... I don't think the cop deserves to be fired. I think he panicked.

If he hadn't have pulled his gun out of the holster, I would agree.

Well, at least he didn't use it? That's positive, at least...

[EVT1]

Jun 9, 2015 14:27:23 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

Jun 9, 2015 12:21:49 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

If he hadn't have pulled his gun out of the holster, I would agree.

Well, at least he didn't use it? That's positive, at least...

True- sadly if he had, plenty of people would be defending him right now for shooting the two 'thugs' that put him in fear for his life when they came at him in a threatening manor and reached for their waistband.  Then FOX would spend days defending him, Hannity would invite him on his show, etc...

[EVT1]

Jun 8, 2015 21:41:04 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

Jun 8, 2015 21:35:26 GMT -5 Opti said:

What happened to the right to stand your ground?   Are yew one of thos anti-gun nuts?

no, i am actually pro gun, so long as it protects my right to own heavy artillery and anti-aircraft weapons. 

I had a thread on this I think it got yanked:  Florida of course:

He in fact had an air to air missle.

www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/news/local/man-drives-down-us-1-in-boca-with-torpedo-no-one-b/nmQ3h/


     What happens if you put a 9-foot-long missile in the passenger seat of your convertible and drive for an hour on busy South Florida streets on the day the President of the United States is visiting?  Nothing at all.

foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/is-that-a-missile-in-your-volvo-or-1708454275

[billisonboard]

Jun 9, 2015 14:27:23 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

Jun 9, 2015 12:21:49 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

If he hadn't have pulled his gun out of the holster, I would agree.

Well, at least he didn't use it? That's positive, at least...

If the other two cops hadn't been right there, would it have been different?

[mmhmm]

Jun 9, 2015 16:45:12 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

Jun 9, 2015 14:27:23 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

Well, at least he didn't use it? That's positive, at least...

If the other two cops hadn't been right there, would it have been different?

There's no way anyone here can answer that, billis. That would require we assume. For what seem to me to be obvious reasons, I don't like to do that.