Texas cop on leave as gun-toting video aired
Print Edition
Video on the Internet showing a Texas police officer pulling out his gun at a pool party of unarmed black teens raised fresh questions yesterday about the use of force by United States police.
Officials in McKinney, Texas, some 50 kilometers north of Dallas, said they have placed the officer in question on administrative leave after the incident late on Friday, when police responded to complaints of rowdiness by teens at a community swimming pool.
“The initial call came in as a disturbance involving multiple juveniles at the location, who do not live in the area or have permission to be there, refusing to leave,” McKinney police said in statement released on Sunday, adding there were also complaints of fighting among the teenagers.
Video filmed by one of the teens, which was later posted on YouTube showed a white officer shouting obscenities at the youths as he orders them to lie on the ground.
In a chaotic scene in which youths can be seen running around the pool area to evade the police, one officer can be seen throwing a girl to the ground and pinning her down, then pulling out his gun as two black male teens approach, apparently to try to help her.
Authorities said they had launched a probe after becoming aware of the existence of the video, which has gone viral and been replayed on US news broadcasts.
The past year has seen numerous cases that have raised concerns about excessive and sometimes lethal police force in black communities across the US.
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