The Texas pool party where a police officer pinned a screaming teenaged girl to the ground and pointed his pistol at others might have escaped notice if not for Brandon Brooks.
Brooks, 15, filmed roughly seven minutes of the melee. His video has gone viral and prompted calls to fire the McKinney police officer seen in the video. The officer, Cpl. Eric Casebolt, a 10-year department veteran, has been placed on administrative leave during the investigation, according to police.
"When he pulled his gun, my heart dropped," Brooks told NewsFix. "As soon as he pulled out his gun, I thought he was gonna shoot that kid. That was very scary."
Brooks described the pool party at the Craig Ranch North Community as an end-of-the-school-year gathering a classmate invited him to via Twitter.
After a pool security guard gave Brooks and his friends a hard time about being there, the teen said he went to the bathroom and was prepared to pack his belongings. A friend told him there was a fight outside, but it was over by the time Brooks got there.
"The parents immediately started yelling, 'You need more cops!'" Brooks said. "The fight was between a mom and girl -- which had nothing to do with all those other kids she apparently needed more cops for."
Brooks called the scene "out of control." He said Casebolt grew angry after he tripped chasing a group of teens he had told to sit down.
"He was going crazy, putting people in handcuffs, swinging them to the ground," Brooks said.
As other teens at the pool party have said, Brooks said he felt racism was involved.
"I was one of the only white people in the area when [the arrest] was happening," Brooks said. "You can see in part of the video where [an officer] tells people to sit down and kind of skips over me and tells my African-American friends to go sit down," Brooks said.
Brooks said it was "very uncalled for" for Casebolt to pin 15-year-old Dajerria Becton to the ground as she screamed for help. She was wearing a swimsuit at the time.
"All she was doing was talking to her friends about the situation. She was quote-unquote 'running her mouth' -- and I mean, she has freedom of speech," Brooks said.
Becton told Fox 4 that Casebolt told her to keep walking. "I’m guessing he thought we were saying rude stuff to him," Becton told the station. "He grabbed me and he like twisted my arm on the back of my back and he shoved me in the grass, he started pulling the back of my braids and I was like telling him that he can get off me because my back was hurting really bad."
Lashauna Burks, the adult supervising the party, told The Huffington Post Monday that white adults began yelling racist and profane remarks at the teens.
“This lady was saying racial slurs to some friends that came to the cookout. ... She was saying things such as, 'You black f****r,' and, ‘That's why you live in Section 8 homes,'" Burke's daughter, Tatiana Rhodes, told HuffPost.
Brooks, too, disputed that the teens started the chaos.
"The parents said that we were cursing at them and stuff, which that didn't happen at all," Brooks said. "They were giving us a hard time. I think personally it's because there are bunch of African-Americans in the neighborhood -- all who came to the pool on the same day. They probably thought they weren't from there or something."
Brooks told NewsFix he was particularly troubled by racist comments posted on his YouTube video.
"I think it's horrible," Brooks said. "They're going to discriminate against them just because they're black? What if that was your kid getting slung to the ground? Would you still be talk about them in the way that you are if that was your kid?"
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
It's Another Trump-Biden Showdown — And We Need Your Help
The Future Of Democracy Is At Stake
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
Your Loyalty Means The World To Us
As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.
Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.
Contribute as little as $2 to keep our news free for all.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
The 2024 election is heating up, and women's rights, health care, voting rights, and the very future of democracy are all at stake. Donald Trump will face Joe Biden in the most consequential vote of our time. And HuffPost will be there, covering every twist and turn. America's future hangs in the balance. Would you consider contributing to support our journalism and keep it free for all during this critical season?
HuffPost believes news should be accessible to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay for it. We rely on readers like you to help fund our work. Any contribution you can make — even as little as $2 — goes directly toward supporting the impactful journalism that we will continue to produce this year. Thank you for being part of our story.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
It's official: Donald Trump will face Joe Biden this fall in the presidential election. As we face the most consequential presidential election of our time, HuffPost is committed to bringing you up-to-date, accurate news about the 2024 race. While other outlets have retreated behind paywalls, you can trust our news will stay free.
But we can't do it without your help. Reader funding is one of the key ways we support our newsroom. Would you consider making a donation to help fund our news during this critical time? Your contributions are vital to supporting a free press.
Contribute as little as $2 to keep our journalism free and accessible to all.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.
Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.
Contribute as little as $2 to keep our news free for all.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
Dear HuffPost Reader
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. Would you consider becoming a regular HuffPost contributor?
Dear HuffPost Reader
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. If circumstances have changed since you last contributed, we hope you'll consider contributing to HuffPost once more.
Support HuffPostAlready contributed? Log in to hide these messages.