The Story we're being told
Media Scorecard
Fox & NBC
Heavy.com
Conservative Treehouse
The Daily Kos
Media Takeout
CNN
Quick Facts
Event Took Place at a Private Pool
The event too place at a private community pool. You need to be invited to a private pool.
Event Incited by Tatiana Rhodes and Lashana Burkes
This mother/daughter combination sent out flyers promoting this event as free. They advertised a pool and a pool theme, but the pool next to the location they promoted requires an ID card to get in and is private. Their intention was promoting an upcoming event, tickets cost $5.00.
This was extremely poorly planned
The flyer goes viral, 70 – 100 people show up expecting to be able to use a pool but are told they can’t. It is possible that they may of been told things to incite them, whatever the case may be, people started jumping the fence to a private gated pool.
Excessive Force?
Parts of the video are hard to watch, and one may make the case for Excessive force from these parts. The reaction appears to be out of frustration, and does not appear to be from racism.
Officer Casebolt is a Navy Veteran
Heavy.com reports “He Served in the Navy as a Military Policeman & Operations Specialist”
Security Officers, Mothers, and Children Assaulted
Residents claim that security officers were assaulted when trying to restore peace. There are also stories of residents tending to injured children.
Death Threats and Vandalization
Since this story broke the neighborhood has been vandalized and terroristic threats have been made against certain residents
Residents, Including African Americans, claim it is not a racial issue
Several residents claim this isn’t a racial issue, and that the police resolved a potentially dangerous situation with justified force.
The incident took place at a private community pool
The pool that this incident occurred at is not open to the public. It is a private pool for the members of the Craig Ranch Community.
The pool has very strict rules. You need a photo ID to get into the pool and Pool parties cost $225 and are limited to 20 people.
Event Incited by Tatiana Rhodes and Lashana Burkes
Tatiana Rhodes and Lashana Burkes have setup several events before. At this event they specifically promoted it as a pool party. The intent was promoting a future event that they were selling presale tickets for $5.00 each. Neither of these two people had the right nor permission to do this.
Flyer goes viral, between 70 - 100 people show up.
A group of approximately 70-100 people show up in a public place next to the pool. The event was promoted as a pool party, and the people that came were expecting this. You can verify this in the future videos, notice how everyone has pool attire on?
At some point in time, it is unknown what sparked it, people from this group began jumping the fence to get into the private pool that requires a photo ID to access. The security guards tried to remove them but they refused to leave. Residents claim that security guards were assaulted, and that community minors (teens) received minor injuries.
You also have this video of one of the organizers fighting with a community resident. I can imagine under the circumstances with all the chaos going on she would be upset because her event promotion is ruined at this point.
A resident also complained about loud music with explicit lyrics and drug and alcohol use around children. Most residents, of all races, say the same general story. A group of “punks” ruined it for everyone.
Brags about the above attack on social media:
With The Situation Already Out of Hand, Officer Eric Casebolt Arrives
Facts gathered from the video to the right:
The gun was aimed at someone who came up behind the officer, not at the teenage girl
It was later reported that the person the gun is aimed at is a teen
There are people inciting the incident the entire time
Mr. Casebolt does use inappropriate language
Mr. Casebolt’s use of force could be considered excessive
There is no evidence suggesting race was an issue, it appears to be frustration and/or anger
Unbiased Facts:
Nobody Was Injured
We should all be happy for this, nobody was seriously injured in this incident, nobody was killed. Regardless of the debate about Casebolt’s methods, everyone did get to walk away from this one because of them.
There is No Evidence of Racism
That is absolutely no evidence of any racism. The community this happened at is composed of all races, all of which said everyone got along and that race was never an issue. Casebolt’s actions appear to be incited and are as a result of frustration or anger.
Casebolt is extremely well trained
Casebolt has quite the list of accomplishments both for the military and outside the military. He has “Experience in the Use of All Levels of Force”. He even teaches self defense courses.
Other Police in Video acted professionally
The main issue is being made with Casebolt, yet nobody is complimenting the other police in the video. They appear to be acting professional at all times.
Casebolt investigated two suicides earlier in the day
It was later released by Casebolts attorney that earlier in the day, Casebolt investigated two suicides. In one a father apparently shot himself infront of his child and wife, and in the other, Casebolt talked a girl out of jumping out a window.
Casebolt also arrested a unidentified white female
It was reported that Casebolt did indeed arrest an unidentified white female as well.
Event incited by Tatiana Rhodes and Lashana Burkes
Regardless of their intent of promoting an event, they are entirely responsible for this incident happening.
Tatiana Rhodes bragged about assaulting residents on twitter
Before the police arrived at the scene of the incident, event organizers attacked residents of this community and then bragged about it on social media.
Foul Language by Casebolt:
We disagree with the use of foul language as seen in the video. We weren’t there though and do not understand the situation or level of frustration, but we still don’t agree with the use of that language.
Excessive Force???
It’s very hard to watch the parts with the officer and the teenage girl. One can easily see that this event was incited constantly by a group of teens standing on the corner. They were told to leave 6 times and did not listen. This appears to be what triggered this, and it does seem at times to be excessive. It appears officer Casebolt had lost his cool and his actions were a result of frustraition and maybe a little anger rather than racism.
A majority of residents seem to support the police
A majority of the residents interviewed support the police actions. This includes African American residents. Most residents are afraid to go on camera due to death threats and vandalism. We can’t put this as a plus though because some residents disagree with Casebolts use of force in the teenage girl.
Residents of all races are saying ``punks`` ruined it
One of the biggest questions of this story remains the conduct of the individuals before the police arrive. Residents of all races basically agree and say the same thing, “A group of punks ruined it for everyone”
Jumping Fence, Assaulting Security, Drug & Alcohol Use
One resident went on to say that there was drug and alcohol use in front of children. Several residents claimed people were jumping the pool fence, and that 2 security guards were assaulted, as well as minors, and a mother of 3 which there is video of.
It's safe to say most teens had no idea what they were getting into
It should also be mentioned that most teens that went by the invite on social media thought they were going to a pool party. This wasn’t the case though, and some of them reacted negatively when they found out the pool was private and began jumping the fence. This is the point where fights started breaking out and two security guards were reported injured.
This isn't the first time for Officer Casebolt
Heavy.com has reported that Officer Casebolt was sued in a previous incident for racial profiling. Ultimately the charges were dropped against the victim and against officer Casebolt.
Our Opinion
With that being said, a majority of the teens that came to this event were expecting it to be a pool party due to the type of event Lashana and Tatiana promoted. If you watch the videos you’ll notice a majority of the teens are in pool attire. It is safe to say some of them more than likely became enraged when they learned the pool was private and that they couldn’t use it.
It was at this time that some of them began jumping the fence. When security guards tried to take control of the situation it was reported that two of them were assaulted as well as a mother of 3 by the person organizing this event. Tatiana Rhodes later bragged about this on social media. Residents of all races claim that a bunch of “punks” spoiled it, this would imply that a smaller group of people were instigating this entire incident, and you can’t judge the actions of the entire group by the actions of a few, as also in the video you can see some of the teens being polite by returning the flashlight to the officer.
Officer Casebolt arrived at an extremely chaotic scene. I believe that 9 police total were called in as backup to stop the incident. This was certainly no pool party when he arrived. With this being said, we still have issues with the foul language used at the teens sitting on the ground and can not see how this will diffuse any situation. Parts of the video where he is detaining the child are also hard to watch, and the case could be made for excessive force. This however seems to be a reaction to frustration, and as a result anger, and not racism.
There is absolutely no case that can be made for the #blacklivesmatter movement here. The reason African Americans were targeted is because of who Tatiana Rhodes and Lashana Burkes targeted when promoting this event. The crowd they promoted to was primarily African American. They also lied to these people, claiming it was a pool party when previous documentation proves they had no permission or right to do this.
Regardless of who is upset at who, the people in the community should not be getting attacked like they are. We all have our opinions on this incident but we shouldn’t be threatening people because of what side they are on. This community is racially diverse, there is no case that can be made that the people were upset because a bunch of “black people” showed up. African American men and women swim in this pool regularly, since they live in the community itself. The whole person that incited this incident was African American, and lives in this community after all.
This is one incident where we disagree with person(s) claiming to be with Anonymous who doxed the person who was pictured holding a sign showing support for the police. We understand that the actions of a few within this group do not represent the beliefs of the entire group, so our disagreement is with the person(s) that did this to the resident. Children have had to move out of their houses and lives have been forever changed, if anyone should of been doxed, it should of been the people that incited this entire incident, not that we support that type of activity.
Other Points to be Made
The US Media makes millions feeding both sides partial truths, sparking the great debate, causing their articles to go viral, making thousands off all the advertising they shove down peoples throats.
The Flashlight Incident
Something that is often overlooked with this entire situation is the fact that several teens picked up an officers flashlight that he dropped and then returned it to the officer. One officer thanked them, and then Officer Casebolt put them on the ground, accused them of running, and then swore at them. To us, this is an unacceptable way to talk to teens.
Pictures and Resident Testimony:
Vandalization, Death Threats, Cyber Crimes against people who support police
Casebolt's previous incident
“Federal court documents show that David Eric Casebolt and other officers were sued in 2008 in federal court for racial profiling, harassment, failure to render aid and sexual assault.
The handwritten lawsuit was filed by Albert E. Brown Jr., who was being held in jail on pending charges related to the traffic stop at the time.
Brown accused Casebolt of reaching into his “private area” and pulling his pants “down below ankles” during the traffic stop.
Brown was parked on the wrong side of a road in McKinney, according to the civil complaint. Casebolt told Brown he was going to write him a ticket for the traffic offense, but then said he saw two marijuana seeds and an open container in the car.
Brown said Casebolt also remarked about the “white girls” who were with him and made comments about him and his clothes.”
The Case was dropped due to a pending case and never refiled
“The civil case was dismissed by a federal judge in 2009 because the criminal charges against Brown were still pending. The judge said in his decision that the lawsuit could be re-filed if he was exonerated. The criminal charges were also eventually dismissed, but the civil case was never refiled by Brown. ”
Media Scorecard Details
Fox & NBC
Heavy.com
Conservative Treehouse
The Daily Kos
Media Takeout
CNN
The Good: The Conservative treehouse did some amazing journalistic research with their article on this incident. Heavey.com also did great investigate work but didn’t provide as many details as the Conservative Treehouse. Fox and NBC provided articles on this that didn’t go that far out of their way to incite bias.
The Bad: The Daily Kos provided some of the most shoddy rag journalism we’ve seen in a long time. They clearly try to incite racism into the situation, claiming that because a mother defended a child that there is reason to believe she might of discriminated against African Americans at her job. You can’t even comment about this on their site unless you pay for a subscription which sounds pretty elitist to me, obviously they don’t care about anyone’s opinion who can’t afford their subscription fee. Media Takeout was the first to report this was due to people “not wanting black people” in their pool which simply wasn’t true. CNN used misleading article titles to slightly influence bias against the police.
The Daily Kos intentionally leaves out crucial information, such as the fact that in the pool fight the attacker bragged about “beating that ass” on twitter after They implied that the woman trying to stop the fight and protect her daughter was racist instead.
First of all, many people commented about the professionalism of the other officers. Second white witnesses mentioned the different treatment by Officer Casebolt. Third, he did not hit, yell, or slam the white teen who was put in handcuffs. She went to tell him how the fight started, he asked if she was involved. After she said yes, he asked another officer to put her in handcuffs, yet he slammed multiple black kids by their heads and necks to the ground while cursing at them. He was hateful even when the two young black boys were addressing him as Sir. He is a poor excuse of an adult and as a vet myself, I find his mistreatment of kids inexcusable!
I am curious if anyone apologized to Tracy Allbritton? I have watched the video multiple times and i never heard her say anything racial. Dallas Community for Change suggested people call her employer to have her fired.