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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
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McKinney Police Officer|Resigns After Viral Video

McKINNEY, Texas (CN) - The white police officer who was filmed pulling a gun on black teenagers at a pool party resigned Tuesday after putting the wealthy Dallas suburb of McKinney in the national spotlight.

McKinney police Cpl. Eric Casebolt, 41, turned in his badge and submitted a two-word resignation letter on Tuesday: "I resign." It comes two days after Casebolt was placed on administrative leave.

A 7-minute video uploaded Saturday showed Casebolt and 11 other officers responding to calls of fights and uninvited guests at a privately owned community swimming pool at the Craig Ranch master planned community. The video quickly went viral and brought national attention to the affluent suburb and to the issues of police brutality and racial profiling.

McKinney, pop. 143,200, about 30 miles northeast of Dallas, is 64 percent white, according to city-data.com. Its median household income of $79,171 is 56 percent above the statewide median of $50,740.

Casebolt is shown angrily screaming profanity at only the black male teenagers, telling them to get on the ground, while he repeatedly yells at a group of teenage girls to leave.

He is shown wrestling a 14-year-old black girl to the ground. Several teenagers are shown crying and screaming while surrounding Casebolt, who unholsters his service weapon and appears to point it at the two black male teenagers closest to him, who run away.

Casebolt then reholsters his gun and pins the screaming girl to the ground with his knees. She can be heard repeatedly asking for her mother .

Police Chief Greg Conley explicitly criticized Casebolt for the first time Tuesday. He told reporters Casebolt's actions were "indefensible."

"Our policies, our training and our practice do not support his actions," Conley said at a news conference announcing the resignation. "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 scene and 11 of them performed according to their training and they did an excellent job."

One of the officers is seen touching Casebolt on the arm after Casebolt pulled his gun, apparently calming him. Casebolt then reholstered his gun.

Conley said Casebolt will keep his pension and benefits, but could face criminal charges, depending on the results of the police department's investigation.

He said the department is "held to a high standard of action as we do our jobs," but the chief criticized people at the pool who violated community rules and disrespected a security guard and police officers there.

News reports allege several black teenagers who were denied entry to the pool jumped the fence and some white parents at the pool told them they were not welcome, one woman allegedly telling them to "go back to your Section 8 housing."

An unidentified woman accused of starting a fight that led to police involvement has been placed on administrative leave by her employer, financial services firm CoreLogic.

"CoreLogic does not condone violence, discrimination or harassment and takes conduct that is inconsistent with our values and expectations very seriously," the company said in a statement Tuesday. "As a result of these pending allegations, we have placed the employee in question on administrative leave while further investigations take place."

Mayor Brian Loughmiller tried to distance the city from Casebolt, telling reporters "the actions of any one individual do not define us as a community."

Casebolt has not commented on the incident or his resignation. The McKinney Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 107 spoke out on his behalf on Monday, denying that race played a role in the incident.

Follow @davejourno
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