To: Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis, McKinney Mayor Brian Loughmiller, and McKinney Chief of Police Greg Conley
What police officer treats children in such an abusive, life-threatening manner?
No one, especially an officer of the law, should treat people—especially children—in such an abusive, life-threatening manner. It’s not enough that Officer Casebolt has resigned. Tell District Attorney Greg Willis and local officials to charge him with battery and assault.
Why is this important?
"Call my mama, oh God!" 15-year-old Dajerria Becton cried, as Eric Casebolt, an adult male police officer, forcefully swung her by her arm to the ground.
"On your face!" he ordered, slamming her head into the grass face-first. He then pinned her to the ground with his knees—a child, who was crying for her mother.
Watching the video of what happened at an end-of-the-year school pool party in McKinney, Texas, and hearing a young teen calling out for her mother to ease her fear and help her be safe, what mother's heart could take it?
And Dajerria was not the only incident that day. Officer Casebolt singled out many other black teens for abuse, violently arresting, verbally assaulting and physically attacking a number of African-American young people, and even drawing his gun on teens who tried to intervene on Dajerria’s behalf.
A white teen attending the party, who easily videotaped the attack, observed, “Everyone who was getting put on the ground was black, Mexican, Arabic... [The cop] didn’t even look at me. It was kind of like I was invisible.”
In an interview, the teen further added, "He [Casebolt] skips over me and tells all my African American friends to go sit down."
Officer Casebolt's actions reflect a deeply discriminatory and abusive culture of policing within McKinney law enforcement. Officer Casebolt has resigned, but it's not enough. He, as well as the other officers present that day who stood by and allowed this police violence to take place, must be held accountable.
"On your face!" he ordered, slamming her head into the grass face-first. He then pinned her to the ground with his knees—a child, who was crying for her mother.
Watching the video of what happened at an end-of-the-year school pool party in McKinney, Texas, and hearing a young teen calling out for her mother to ease her fear and help her be safe, what mother's heart could take it?
And Dajerria was not the only incident that day. Officer Casebolt singled out many other black teens for abuse, violently arresting, verbally assaulting and physically attacking a number of African-American young people, and even drawing his gun on teens who tried to intervene on Dajerria’s behalf.
A white teen attending the party, who easily videotaped the attack, observed, “Everyone who was getting put on the ground was black, Mexican, Arabic... [The cop] didn’t even look at me. It was kind of like I was invisible.”
In an interview, the teen further added, "He [Casebolt] skips over me and tells all my African American friends to go sit down."
Officer Casebolt's actions reflect a deeply discriminatory and abusive culture of policing within McKinney law enforcement. Officer Casebolt has resigned, but it's not enough. He, as well as the other officers present that day who stood by and allowed this police violence to take place, must be held accountable.