The shocking incident that took place at a pool party in McKinney, Texas, has sparked several debates online. There are a number of unanswered questions about the series of events that took place prior to police officers arriving. Now, the teen who hosted the party is speaking out with details about what really happened.
According to Raw Story , footage of a teen named Tatiana Rose was uploaded to YouTube on Sunday, June 7. The 19-year-old decided to offer clarity about the incident, since several reports suggested the black teens accessed the pool area without permission. Rose clarified that she, her sister, and their friends hosted the cookout.
She and her sister do live in the Craig Ranch neighborhood, so they were allowed to access the pool area. However, that’s not all. She also stated that most of the party attendants also live in the affluent neighborhood. But, the influx of black teens reportedly made some of Rose’s white neighbors uncomfortable. While a physical altercation did indeed take place, the reason for the altercation didn’t exactly occur as reported.
Rose stated that some of the white neighbors approached the pool area and began spewing expletives and racial slurs at her and her guests. The neighbors allegedly called some of the party-goers “black f**kers” and insisted one female return to her “Section 8” home.
“So then they started verbally abusing her, saying that she needs to do better for herself, cursing at her, and I’m saying, no that’s wrong – she’s 14, you should not say things like that to a 14-year-old,” Rose said. Surprisingly, Rose revealed her brother’s friend, Grace Stone, 14, who fired back at the rude neighbors, is also white. When she interceded on Stone’s behalf, that’s when the confrontation escalated. A woman, only identified as Kate, actually told Rose to go back to her “government-assisted housing.” When Rose responded, the woman slapped her in the face.
White party-goers also shared details about the heightened chaos after police arrived. Many agreed the officers totally ignored them and charged toward the black and Hispanic teens outside of the home. The shocking footage shows one officer, identified as Eric Casebolt, pointing his gun at the teens.
Rose’s mother, LaShana Burks, also voiced her frustrations about the incident. Burks feels her neighbors should have voiced their concerns with her before taking matters into their own hands and calling the police. “I’m just upset that we couldn’t have a peaceful event, and if it was any issues that they truly had, they should have came to me, the adult that was here at the event, and said, ‘Hey, we don’t want the kids’ – whatever – then let me handle it, and not go to that extreme,” said Burks.
McKinney police officer Eric Casebolt has been suspended pending the investigation. According to Dallas News, McKinney Mayor Brian Loughmiller has released a statement about the event and the pending investigation. He expects the investigation to be conducted expeditiously in order to resolve this issue.
“I am disturbed and concerned by the incident and actions depicted in the video,” Loughmiller said in a written statement. “Our expectation as a City Council is that our police department and other departments will act professionally and with appropriate restraint relative to the situation they are faced with.”
[Image via YouTube Screen Capture]