A teen who was at the party and shot the viral video tells reporters what he believes actually happened with cops at the McKinney pool party. And yes, he says there’s a racial element.
Brandon Brooks is 15-years old. He was an invited guest to Friday’s end-of-year pool party in McKinney, Texas, and he shot the viral video that documents actions by police that led to one officer being suspended and calls for him to be fired.
Brooks says the police were called after a mother, presumably a resident, was fighting with a teenaged girl. Reports state that some of the residents, who are white, were telling the teens, many of whom were Black, to “go back to section 8 housing,” suggesting the teens didn’t belong in the neighborhood but rather, what some call “the projects,” or government housing.
“The cops showed up and the parents immediately started yelling, ‘you need more cops, there’s too many of them.’ And most of the kids weren’t even involved. It was a fight between a mom and girl, which had nothing to do with all the other kids that she apparently needed more cops for,” Brooks told CW33 News.
RELATED:Â ‘Officer Of The Year’ Pulls Gun On Teens And Violently Attacks Girl At Pool Party (Video)
Brooks says when police officer Eric Casebolt arrived, he lost control.
“He trips and drops his flashlight. He’s going crazy, putting people in handcuffs, tackling people, slinging them on the ground.”
And Brooks believes he knows why he was not handcuffed or otherwise attacked by the police.
“I was one of the only white people in the area when that was happening,” he says. “You can see in part of the video where he tells us to sit down, and he kinda like skips over me and tells all my African-American friends to go sit down.”
So why was the 14-year old Black teen in a bikini attacked by Officer Casebolt?
Brooks said she was talking with a friend about what was happening in front of them.
WATCH:Â Jon Stewart Dives Into Texas Pool Party Problem
“I think she was quote unquote running her mouth, and she has freedom of speech and that was very uncalled for him to throw her to the ground,†Brooks said. “When he pulled his gun my heart dropped. As soon as he pulled out his gun, I thought he was going to shoot that kid. That was very scary.”
Brooks’ YouTube video has gone viral, approaching nearly nine million views.
But he says he’s bothered that many of the comments on it are racist.
“They’re just going to discriminate against them because they’re black,” Brooks observed. “What if that was your kid getting slung to the ground? Would you still be talking about them in the way that you are?”
Â
Image:Â Brandon Brooks/YouTube