WASHINGTON – Video imagery doesn’t get much worse than a white police officer throwing an African-American girl in a bikini to the ground, kneeling on her back as she cries, and drawing his gun on other teens.
What in God’s name is wrong with our cops?
I should say, what was wrong with McKinney, Texas, police Cpl. Eric Casebolt, the officer in the video. Would that this were an isolated case, but we’ve seen other videos the past year or so involving other police officers, mostly white, whose aggressive tactics resulted in death or injury to unarmed, black victims. (Casebolt resigned late Tuesday.)
While it’s necessary to qualify that most cops are good and risk their lives to protect our safety, nothing justifies what millions of Americans witnessed in the latest viral video described above.
The 15-year-old girl reportedly was mouthing off; Casebolt may have felt flustered as he faced dozens of teenagers following a fight he didn’t yet understand; the moment may even have felt dangerous to him. We don’t know.