Tatiana Rhodes, who organized a Friday-night pool party that ended in several arrests, told WFAA in Dallas that a police officer seen throwing a 15-year-old girl to the ground had no reason to behave so aggressively. That McKinney, Texas, police officer has been suspended after he was filmed on cellphone video handcuffing, then drawing a weapon on a group of black teens following an “incident” at the pool party, BuzzFeed reports.
The incident occurred about 7:15 p.m., when oficers arrived at the party in response to a 911 call about a “disturbance involving multiple juveniles at the location, who do not live in the area or have permission to be there, refusing to leave,” the McKinney Police Department said in a post on its Facebook page. Other callers claimed that the teens were “actively fighting,” police said.
But a video emerged later showing one officer aggressively handcuffing and detaining teens who described themselves as bystanders. The video then shows the officer wrestling a young girl in a bathing suit to the ground and drawing his weapon to ward off others who tried to help her.
“This video has raised concerns that are being investigated by the McKinney Police Department,” the police statement reads. “At this time, one of the responding officers has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of this investigation.”
Brandon Brooks, the YouTube user who posted the video, said the incident began when a fight broke out between a mom and a girl. Everyone ran when the police showed up, the report notes.
“So the cops just started putting everyone on the ground and in handcuffs for no reason,” Brooks writes. “This kind of force is uncalled for, especially on children and innocent bystanders.”
Watch the video here:
Read more at BuzzFeed.