Hundreds of demonstrators descended in McKinney, Texas on Monday — just two days after a video that captured a police officer’s use of force against a black, female teenager went viral.
Elroy Johnson, a 25-year-old teacher who grew up in the neighborhood, told The Huffington Post that he couldn’t recall the last time he witnessed a protest that large in his town.
The crowd gathered near the Craig Ranch Community Pool — the same site where 19-year-old Tatiana Rhodes’ now-infamous pool party was held last Friday. The teen’s party, which was chaperoned by her mother, Laushana Burks, was meant to celebrate the end of the summer. Burks told HuffPost that, instead, the gathering ended with violence after two white women made racist comments to a group of black teens and subsequently attacked them.
Community members rallied in the neighborhood to speak out against the racist actions of the two women who apparently made comments like “you black f****r” and “that’s why you live in Section 8 homes.” Demonstrators also called for the firing of a police officer who was captured on video manhandling a young black girl and wielding his gun at two black teenage boys who tried to help her.
“A number of community members made it known they were upset about what happened at the pool party on Friday,†Johnson said. “Seeing all of that action was definitely amazing.â€
See Huffington Post
