Pool Party Mayhem in McKinney

[Rrash]

Here is an article. There are many more blowing up from the events that happened on Friday. http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/mck ... ?cid=sm_fb

Rather than quote from the article, I'll just tell you my take. I live [just a few] houses down from where this took place and arrived on the scene towards the end of the youtube video showing the girl being handcuffed. I can share with you what I saw and what I heard from first hand accounts, including the mother who was involved in the fight preceding the video. There are a lot of inaccuracies, misconceptions, and flat out lies being floated around on social media. I will speak factually.

A large party started late afternoon, hosted by few teen "party production" companies - set up and run by some young adults (18+) and high school students (many of which do not live in Craig Ranch or go to Liberty High school). They set up in the PUBLIC park inside of CR, with a DJ playing profane music, bounce house and grills (cooking/grilling is prohibited, as in alcohol, etc.). They also advertised the PRIVATE pool as part of the attraction. Scores of kids from Plano, Dallas, Frisco, Allen, and other parts of Mckinney were invited via social media, and arrived for a good time. They likely had no idea of any park rules, much less that they weren't allowed in CR's PRIVATE pool. Trying to enter the private pool, many kids loitered at the gated entrance and would sneak in as the door opened, while others used "borrowed" pool passes from residents that lived in CR. Eventually, many just blatantly scaled the fence in front of shocked residents and security. There was no adult supervision for this party, and parents inside the pool with their small children started to be overrun by the teenagers and young adults. Each time a family would leave, the teenagers and young adults would taunt them as they gathered their things and walked out. The security guards tried to restore order, but were ignored and faced resistance by what was quickly becoming a MOB MENTALITY crowd. It is also important to note that this was not an "all black crowd" in a "white" neighborhood, it was a DIVERSE GROUP of teenagers and young adults who threw unauthorized party in a DIVERSE NEIGHBORHOOD..

Anyway, back to the pool. As one of the CR moms left with her children, she was called a profane name. Instead of ignoring it, she got into it with the 19 yo female CR resident, who coincidentally was one of the party "promoters." The 19 yo followed the mother out of the pool area, and on the front steps, more words were exchanged. This eventually turned into racial insults (from both mouths - the mom and the 19 yo female), escalating to violence in front of her small children. From the steps, the 19 yo girl charged at the mother as she walked towards her car. The mother swung first, and the fight ensued. This is where one of the twitter videos was filmed (warning: language)https://mobile.twitter.com/k1dmars/stat ... 4147452928, showing the 19 yo female and mother fighting. In this video, you can hear and see teenagers cheer the 19 yo girl on as she fights with the mother, while panicked young children cry in the background. After the fight, the mother remained in her vehicle, while the group of aggressive teens and young adults threw drinks and other objects at the minivan. (Again, this is first hand accounts from people who were there, who broke up the fight, including the mother herself.)

By now, police had been called by multiple residents and a pool security guard. Upon MPD's arrival, many teenagers and young adults began running, refusing to comply with commands, and in many cases, talked back, even taunted officers. While calling for more backup, responding officers ordered everyone to sit down so they could assess and gain control of the situation. Remember: they were responding to criminal trespassing, noise complaints, disorderly conduct, and fighting - not a pool party! Police used force on some of the young adults to get control of the situation, which is where the alleged brutality takes place.

It is at this point that the YouTube video begins filming. (language) [video][/video]

The gun incident happens at around 3:00 on the YouTube video when the officer, while detaining one individual and simultaneously giving orders to an advancing group of young women, was approached by a separate group of young men approaching quickly from the opposite side. One of these young men placed his left hand behind his hip, which from the officer's viewpoint could be interpreted as reaching for a concealed weapon (around 3:12). It is at this point the officer draws. While his pistol was out of the holster for exactly 9 seconds, it is aimed at the young man (the threat) for exactly 2 seconds. When the young man retreats (the threat subsides), he quickly aimed towards the ground. At all times, the officer's finger is indexed on the frame.

Concerning the use of force in the YouTube video, it is important to note that it is only directed towards a small group of teens and young adults that were repeatedly disobeying the officers orders. Those that simply complied with the commands were in most cases ignored by the officers. For example: The officer never once told the boy filming the event (YouTube video) to stop filming. Also in the video: While the one girl was on her stomach, the officer on her back, (around 4:50ish) a parent comes within a couple feet of the officer and gently talks to the female. Again, he was completely ignored by the cop, as were the dozen or so parents and adults that walked freely amongst the chaos in an attempt to settle things down.

There are screen shots out there from the twitter pages of these kids, which corroborate the party, DJ, the fight, and if the twitter posts are still up, you can see the progression from "party," to "crazy racist" (white) mom, all the way to "racist" cops, community, etc.

I have no reason to shame, vilify, or take sides in any of this, but I would love to see the media report factual information.

***I'm editing my post. Anonymous has been hacking neighbors.

[jimlongley]

Interesting how little, and how prejudiced, what the TV news presented was.

[Beiruty]

Now, that officer is now on paid leave.

[TexasVet]

Thank you for the first hand account. I watched the video before reading the thread here and had the same reaction about the two males flanking the officer while he was restraining the uncooperative female. The one reaching in his left pocket, waistband area could have been reaching for anything - gun, knife. And even without a weapon he and his buddy could have tackled and tried to disarm the officer. After they saw the prompt reaction to their approach they high tailed it out of there quickly. The line between establishing order and getting confrontational. No one got hurt, but everyone on the reports are only reporting how the WHITE officers treated the unarmed BLACK teens. Nowadays any story I read regarding law enforcement has to have the races of the officer and suspect (especially if the officer is white and the suspect if black). They use it to establish prejudice towards the officer and take the heat of the suspect who generally did something to get the officers attention.
Hope the situation gets evaluated based on the facts not the cries of the likes of Rev. Sharpton for justice (aka money).

[Rrash]

Thank you for the first hand account. I watched the video before reading the thread here and had the same reaction about the two males flanking the officer while he was restraining the uncooperative female. The one reaching in his left pocket, waistband area could have been reaching for anything - gun, knife. And even without a weapon he and his buddy could have tackled and tried to disarm the officer. After they saw the prompt reaction to their approach they high tailed it out of there quickly. The line between establishing order and getting confrontational. No one got hurt, but everyone on the reports are only reporting how the WHITE officers treated the unarmed BLACK teens. Nowadays any story I read regarding law enforcement has to have the races of the officer and suspect (especially if the officer is white and the suspect if black). They use it to establish prejudice towards the officer and take the heat of the suspect who generally did something to get the officers attention.
Hope the situation gets evaluated based on the facts not the cries of the likes of Rev. Sharpton for justice (aka money).

Yep. I also noticed that when the officer used his knee to hold the girl down, his eyes were scanning all around him, and he was specifically addressing the girls in front of him. IMO, he wasn't trying to hurt the girl, as much as he was trying to detain her while his attention (and hands) needed to be focused elsewhere. It was disturbing to watch, but it wasn't outright abusive.

We have also been notified of marches that will come through our neighborhood tomorrow #blacklivesmatter. This isn't really a "white" neighborhood. My street alone has white, hispanic, African-American, Indian, Asian, and Middle Eastern. I'm on a first name basis with probably 50-60% of my neighbors. Very few African-Americans in our neighborhood have openly expressed this is a racist thing. Its quite the contrary, as many (if not a majority) have spoken up saying that the behavior from these teens and young adults is not to be tolerated. It's really upsetting to see the negative press, let alone completely fabricated stories by people who don't even live here. Worse yet, its decisive to our community, as people feel they need to take sides.

[jmra]

I watched the video but did not read the article. My impression of the video:
I saw an officer working the crowd calmly explaining what they needed everyone to do. Then this hothead comes running up yelling at everyone and pushing people around. The other officers are working to maintain calm and order while this guy is yelling profanities and barking orders.
Throughout my professional careers I have been taught to deesculate situations. That is exactly what the officers were doing before the hothead got everybody riled up. I don't believe anything the hothead did rose to the level of brutality, but I do believe this video should be used as training tool showing officers what not to do when trying to manage a crowd.
IMHO this officer was liability in this situation. Anyone who believes otherwise please explain to me why none of the other officers were behaving in the same manner.

[philip964]

It seemed that far too few officers were trying to gain control of an out of control situation.

Many of the people were far too close to the officer for him to feel safe. This includes the cameraman.

Had any of the people wanted to overpower him they could have. That no doubt led to the gun being pulled.

The pool management should have called the police much sooner.

[Rrash]

The hothead was the supervisor, also the 1st officer on the scene. That might explain his amped up demeanor while the others seemed to just let him go nuts. Keep in mind 10 more units were in route, as were the fire dept and EMT.

I agree the guy could have simmered down, but I don't think his actions were malicious. Nobody was injured except for the one man who ran from the cops. I think they hit him with pepper spray when he resisted off camera.

[drjoker]

I hate race baiters. If there really is rampant white supremacist racism, there wouldn't be a BLACK president, right? The fact of the matter is, that people such as Sharpton and Farrakhan are becoming obsolete as long as the reality that American is becoming less racist and more integrated continues. In order to stay relevant, they have to make up a lot of bull stuff together with the liberal news media and tell lies on the news. Instead of race baiting, which only serves to divide people, the news should report good news of officers saving the lives of minorities. They should be promoting love and cooperation, not hate and revenge. Martin Luther King is probably turning over in his grave.

Also, the officer who was the hothead actually had no choice but to act that way since he was the first to arrive on scene, it was ONE man against an angry mob. If he wasn't aggressive, he would've been DEAD. Did you see the two kids who tried to take his gun away from him? They're lucky they didn't get SHOT. He actually had very good control because he did not shoot the kids trying to steal his gun. He was only ACTING aggressive to avoid being overwhelmed by an angry mob. If he were not acting and he really lost control, he would've shot the two kids trying to steal his gun. He is incredibly brave. I probably wouldn't have been so brave and shot the two kids trying to take the gun. He took a chance and bet that the two kids weren't brave enough to follow through. If the two kids went for it at the same time, one of them stand a 50% chance of being shot but the other one would've surely successfully taken his gun. The officer bet with his life in order to save the lives of the two kids who tried to take his gun. That officer deserves a commendation, not punishment.

I really hate corrupt cops, but this officer is probably not corrupt.

Thank you for the first hand account. I watched the video before reading the thread here and had the same reaction about the two males flanking the officer while he was restraining the uncooperative female. The one reaching in his left pocket, waistband area could have been reaching for anything - gun, knife. And even without a weapon he and his buddy could have tackled and tried to disarm the officer. After they saw the prompt reaction to their approach they high tailed it out of there quickly. The line between establishing order and getting confrontational. No one got hurt, but everyone on the reports are only reporting how the WHITE officers treated the unarmed BLACK teens. Nowadays any story I read regarding law enforcement has to have the races of the officer and suspect (especially if the officer is white and the suspect if black). They use it to establish prejudice towards the officer and take the heat of the suspect who generally did something to get the officers attention.
Hope the situation gets evaluated based on the facts not the cries of the likes of Rev. Sharpton for justice (aka money).

Yep. I also noticed that when the officer used his knee to hold the girl down, his eyes were scanning all around him, and he was specifically addressing the girls in front of him. IMO, he wasn't trying to hurt the girl, as much as he was trying to detain her while his attention (and hands) needed to be focused elsewhere. It was disturbing to watch, but it wasn't outright abusive.

We have also been notified of marches that will come through our neighborhood tomorrow #blacklivesmatter. This isn't really a "white" neighborhood. My street alone has white, hispanic, African-American, Indian, Asian, and Middle Eastern. I'm on a first name basis with probably 50-60% of my neighbors. Very few African-Americans in our neighborhood have openly expressed this is a racist thing. Its quite the contrary, as many (if not a majority) have spoken up saying that the behavior from these teens and young adults is not to be tolerated. It's really upsetting to see the negative press, let alone completely fabricated stories by people who don't even live here. Worse yet, its decisive to our community, as people feel they need to take sides.

[rbwhatever1]

Chaos in suburbia from thugs in training with a propensity towards mob violence. How dare anyone try to stop a mob from having a little fun in their neighborhood...

[Beiruty]

Where are the mamas and paps? I would never let my daughter be in such party.

[psijac]

Thank you for the first hand account.

[Oldgringo]

Deleted

[harrycallahan]

It is a hard video to watch. Mostly for the children's sake. I wonder how any of their parents ever thought that this was a good idea. As for the officer, I don't much go for his style of crowd control, but I did not see anything within the video that would rise to the level of an investigation. Again, it's the children here. For many it may be their first interaction with police officers. The civic leaders and police in Mesquite and as well as the parents have all failed.

[Oldgringo]

It is a hard video to watch. Mostly for the children's sake. I wonder how any of their parents ever thought that this was a good idea. As for the officer, I don't much go for his style of crowd control, but I did not see anything within the video that would rise to the level of an investigation. Again, it's the children here. For many it may be their first interaction with police officers. The civic leaders and police in Mesquite and as well as the parents have all failed.

The parents, the home; it either begins there or it doesn't.