Pool party outcry: US police officer resigns
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Senior police officials in the United States have confirmed that one of their officers has resigned after footage emerged of him wrestling a black teenage girl to the ground at a pool party in Texas.
Our policies, our training, our practice, do not support his actions. He came into the call out of control and as the video shows, was out of control during the incident. Mckinney Police Chief Greg Conley
Media interest in the case is intense. This is a time of heightened tension, when the relationship between police and minorities in the States is under close scrutiny.
Police Chief Greg Conley says 41-year-old Corporal Eric Casebolt stepped down of his own accord:“I want to say to our community that the actions of Casebolt, as seen on the video of the disturbance at the community pool, are indefensible. Our policies, our training, our practice, do not support his actions. He came into the call out of control and as the video shows, was out of control during the incident.”
Footage appeared on social media of Corporal Casebolt forcing 15-year-old Dajerria Becton to the ground before pointing his weapon at onlookers at a pool party in the Texas city of Mckinney.
Officers were responding to reports of a disturbance.
Hundreds of people have marched through the streets of Mckinney in protest. There are calls for an investigation by the US Justice Department.
Protests have followed the deaths of several African Americans in police incidents since July 2014 – Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, Eric Garner in New York, Freddie Gray in Baltimore and Tamir Rice in Cleveland, Ohio.