McKinney Pool Party Incident

Overview

McKinney Pool Party Incident refers to a physical altercation between police officers and a group of teenagers that took place at a pool party at a private residential subdivision in McKinney, Texas in early June 2015. The incident garnered nationwide attention in the news media after a video clip of an officer on the scene forcing a black teenage girl to the ground and brandishing his firearm at a group of unarmed black teenage boys began circulating online, which subsequently prompted the launch of an official investigation and suspension of the officer in question.

Background

On June 5th, 2015, police officers were called to the Craig Ranch North Community Pool in McKinney, Texas by residents reporting multiple juveniles at the location who refused to leave the area and were fighting with adults. The following day, YouTuber Brandon Brooks uploaded video footage of the incident in which police officer Eric Casebolt is shown throwing a black teenage girl to the ground (shown below). After subduing the girl, Casebolt is shown drawing his firearm on a group of black teenage boys who approach him from behind. In 48 hours, the video gained over five million views and 16,000 comments.

Notable Developments

McKinney Police Department’s Response

On June 7th, the McKinney Police Department^[6] posted a status update about the incident on Facebook, noting that “a video has raised concerns that are being investigated” and that one of the responding officers had been placed on administrative leave.

Social Media Promotion

That day, reporter Zahid Arab^[5] of the Dallas news station Fox 4 tweeted a promotional image for the pool party that had circulated through social media, adding that homeowners in the subdivision claimed “none of the nearly 70 people were allowed to be there.”

Additional Video Footage Released

On June 7th, the Revolution News Twitter feed posted a video of teenagers fighting adult women in the street of the subdivision, claiming that racist comments led to the escalating violence (shown below).

That same day, YouTuber E Johnson Photo uploaded an interview with McKinney subdivision resident Tatiana Rhodes, who said the adult women in the video told them to “go back to your section 8 home” (shown below).

Online Reaction

Also on June 7th, Facebook user Benét Embry,^[3] a man who resides in the McKinney subdivision, submitted a post on Facebook claiming that the incident was not racially charged and was caused by a group of uninvited teenagers harassing residents and damaging property (shown below).

Meanwhile, Redditor gratefulstringcheese submitted an article about the incident to the /r/news^[2] subreddit and Redditor samus1225 posted the video to /r/Bad_Cop_No_Donut,^[4] where they received more than 5,100 votes and 990 votes in the first 24 hours, respectively.

Search Interest

Not available.

External References