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800 protesters take part in anti-police brutality rally in Texas

About 800 people took part in a rally in the US state of Texas, carrying signs demanding an end to police brutality.

Hundreds of people have demonstrated near Dallas, Texas, to demand the firing of a white police officer seen in a video throwing an African American teenage girl to the ground and pointing his gun at other black youths.

About 800 people took part in the peaceful rally on Monday in McKinney, carrying signs demanding an end to police violence and calling for police accountability in the US. 

“We are demanding that the officer be fired and be charged with assaulting the youth," said Dominique Alexander, the president of the Next Generation Action Network, which helped organize the rally.

The protesters were carrying placards with slogans including, "My skin color is not a crime" and "Don't tread on our kids."

McKinney police officer Eric Casebolt has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation into Friday’s incident that has raised fresh questions about racial bias in US policing.

Casebolt, who is white, is seen in a cell phone video shouting obscenities at African-American youths in a multiracial crowd, shoving a black teenage girl and throwing her to the ground before placing his knees on her back.

He also pointed his gun at African-American youths several times.

Dajerria Becton, the 15-year-old girl thrown to the ground by Casebolt, told the news media that the officer twisted her arm and grabbed her by the hair. "Him getting fired isn’t enough," she said.

Police said the incident started when scores of youths attended a pool party with a disc jockey at a community pool and refused requests to leave.

Civil rights leaders met McKinney city officials on Monday and told reporters they saw the officer's actions as being racially motivated. They also said they wanted an investigation by the US Justice Department.

McKinney, located about 30 miles north of Dallas, has about 150,000 people, according to the US Census Bureau. African-Americans make up 10.5 percent of the population and whites about 75 percent.

The incident comes at a time of increased scrutiny about how US police departments treat minorities following the deaths of several African Americans during police encounters since July 2014.

 

AHT/HRJ


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