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Podcasts Take Two
Texas pool party sets off debate about police brutality and race
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Jun 9, 2015
Listen • 7:57
Texas pool party sets off debate about police brutality and race
There's a debate about whether the incident was racially motivated or not, with protesters calling this a case police brutality. Meanwhile, others say the teens involved were rowdy and damaging private property.
Officer from McKinney, Texas, Police Department draws weapon on teens.
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There's a debate about whether the incident was racially motivated or not, with protesters calling this a case police brutality. Meanwhile, others say the teens involved were rowdy and damaging private property.

It was supposed to be a pool party in the relaxed Dallas suburb of McKinney, Texas, but that party ended up becoming the latest flashpoint in the country's continuing debate over law enforcement, the use of force and race.

Details are still murky about what happened. It took place at the private community pool in the Craig Ranch neighborhood, a racially diverse community. The party was hosted by one of the area's black residents.

However, party crashers allegedly hopped the fence to get in and a verbal altercation happened, too. That's when the police were called.

Then what happens next was captured on a video that's gone viral.

The most jarring image is at 3:15 when a white officer pins a teenaged black girl to the ground. She's just wearing a bathing suit, and his knee is pushed into her back. He then points his gun at other teens nearby.

That officer is now on leave while the department conducts an investigation.

But there is a debate about whether the incident was racially motivated or not.

Hundreds of protesters took to the streets last night, protesting police brutality and calling this a case of an officer's overuse of force.

But one neighborhood resident who's black, Benet Embry, said he witnessed the events. He posted on his Facebook page: "Look, I LIVE in this community and this ENTIRE incident is NOT racial at all. A few THUGS spoiled a COMMUNITY event by fighting, jumping over fences into a PRIVATE pool, harassing and damaging property."

Naomi Martin from the Dallas Morning News joins Take Two to explain more about the latest.