The Texas cop that was filmed yanking a young girl down by the hair at a pool party on Friday and drawing a gun on other teens when they went to intervene has reportedly resigned.
Attorney Jane Bishkin, told WFAA that Officer Eric Casebolt, a 10-year veteran of the McKinney Police Department, made the decision after he met with the internal affairs unit about possible charges he could face over the incident, which took place in the affluent suburb of McKinney, north of Dallas.
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At a press conference outside police headquarters Tuesday afternoon, McKinney Police Chief Greg Conley denounced Casebolt’s actions, calling them “indefensible.”
“Our polices, our training, our practice, do not support his actions,” Conley said. “He came into the call out of control, and as the video shows, was out of control during the incident. I had 12 officers on the scene and 11 of them performed according to their training. They did an excellent job.”
Calls for the department to fire Casebolt have grown since witness video of the incident was posted to social media, where it has been viewed more than 9.5 million times.
In the cell phone footage, Casebolt is heard yelling expletives at teenagers before handcuffing them. Casebolt also forcefully pulls one teenage girl to the ground, places her in handcuffs, and is heard yelling: “Get your ass on the ground!”
The 13-year-old girl who filmed the incident said she is almost certain that the act of police violence was driven by race.
“I honestly believe it was about race, because mostly they did nothing to the Caucasians,” at the party, Bakari told CBS News. “They were acting like we were criminals… We were just there for a pool party.”
McKinney Police have launched an investigation into the incident and Casebolt, who was immediately placed on administrative leave. His lawyer said that he and his wife had gone into hiding following death threats.
Related: Cop Who Pulled Gun at Texas Pool Party Motivated by Race, Says Teen Witness
Friday’s melee began when police attempted to break up a pool party to celebrate the end of the school year in the mostly white suburb. Many of the teens attending the pool party were black. McKinney Police Chief Greg Conley said that three officers arrived after a private security officer at the Craig Ranch Community called police when several teens that did not have permission to use the pool refused to leave.
The teen seen being manhandled by Casebolt in the video, 15-year-old Dajerria Becton, has spoken out about the incident, telling Fox 4 the officer “grabbed me and he twisted my arm on the back of my back… started pulling the back of the braids.”
Several hundred protestors took to the streets of McKinney on Monday night to condemn local police for using force against the teens. Demonstrators alleged the officers used force against the teens because they were African-American. Approximately 800 protestors met at 6:30pm at Comstock Elementary School in McKinney, and marched to the Craig Ranch North Community Pool where police confronted the teens on Friday.
