A Year After the Assault at a McKinney Pool Party, No Charges Have Been Filed
This time last year, June 5th to be exact, a disturbing video circulated social media. Swimsuit-clad teenagers were scrambling around a McKinney, Texas suburb after the police arrived on the scene to break up an end of the school year pool party. For 7 minutes we watched and a belligerent cop, Officer Eric Casebolt, strong-arm teens on to the ground, cursing and yelling as he made arrests. But it was when he body-slammed then 14-year-old Dajerria Becton into the ground twice as she walked away from the commotion, that enraged the nation. She was wearing only a pink and yellow bikini as he wedged his knee into her back, pinning her to the ground. And when two other male party-goers lunged forward in her defense, the officer reached toward his belt and pulled out his gun.
A year later, no charges have been filed against officer Casebolt, who resigned shortly after the video went viral. Becton and her lawyer Kim Cole held a press conference last Monday asking why.
"To date no charges have been filed. Nothing has been done with regard to the case, no one has been held accountable," said Cole.
After the altercation, Becton became a target for racism and harassment online. At the time Cole advised her client to avoid using social media. "Last year when all of this occurred there were some horrible, just vile racist things that were said online, not just here but all across the country and I wanted her to spare herself the angst of enduring those comments and all of the negativity," she said.
In the press conference, a soft-spoken Becton told reporters that today she is doing fine though the high school junior mentioned that "people still talk about it and say rude things" about the assault.
Standing alongside Becton and Cole in the press conference is Adisa Bakari, whose daughter, Jahda, also can be seen being pushed by Casebolt as she and her godsister rush to Becton as she's thrown to the ground.
The video showed other adults, neighborhood residents assisting the officers in rounding up the teens.
The catalyst for the chaos began when two white women at the pool began making racist comments in response to the influx of black kids entering the pool, explained Tatiana Rhodes, the student and resident of the suburban neighborhood who organized the party, in a video.
"This lady was saying racial slurs to some friends that came to the cook out...she was saying things such as 'You black *****' and 'That's why you live in Section 8 homes.'"
According to reports last year, one of the two women was placed on administrative leave.
In January of this year, the Texas Rangers completed their investigation on the incedent and forwarded their results to the Collin County district attorney. The results have not been released.
In a report from the Dallas News, no lawsuits have since been filed and, according to Casebolt's lawyer, Tom Mills, the ex-officer is "doing fine."
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