Since the video of the McKinney pool party surfaced this weekend, there has been much debate about what set off the melee. Neighbors maintained that they only called police due to a group of black children fighting and trespassing at their community pool, while others speculated that the police were called due to racial profiling.
Now, two of the most important witnesses in this case have come forward to clear the air.
Tatiana Rose, who hosted the community pool party with her siblings, says that the weekend confrontation was sparked by angry white neighbors. Rose, who is 19, took to YouTube to tell her side of the story.
Rose says the cookout at the Craig Ranch housing community was a public event she and her sisters held for their young friends from the neighborhood. Unfortunately, a group of white neighbors from Craig Ranch began cursing at the party attendees, telling them to “return to their Section 8 housing” and hurling racial slurs at the children.
The leader of the angry group, identified as a mother named Kate, began cursing at Roses’s young white friend, presumably for associating with black people. “So then they started verbally abusing her, saying that she needs to do better for herself, cursing at her, and I’m saying, no that’s wrong; she’s 14, you should not say things like that to a 14-year-old,” said Rose.
Rose says that’s when Kate walked up to her and smacked her in the face.
Usually, this would be a typical of “he said – she said,” drawn down racial lines, but what makes this eye witness account even more compelling is that Brandon Brooks, the 15-year-old boy who shot the McKinney pool party video, is corroborating Rose’s claims.
He tells NewsFix,
The cops showed up and the parents immediately started yelling, ‘you need more cops, there’s too many of them.’ And most of the kids weren’t even involved. It was a fight between a mom and girl, which had nothing to do with all the other kids that she apparently needed more cops for.
The “mom” he is referencing is the woman Rose identified as Kate. The young man also confirms that the racial profiling was just as obvious in person as it was on the video.
I was one of the only white people in the area when that was happening. You can see in part of the video where he tells us to sit down, and he kinda like skips over me and tells all my African-American friends to go sit down.
When asked about the most shocking part of the clip, the moment when a young girl in a bathing suit is pinned face-down to the ground, he said. “I think she was quote unquote running her mouth, and she has freedom of speech and that was very uncalled for him to throw her to the ground.” He continued, “When he pulled his gun my heart dropped. As soon as he pulled out his gun, I thought he was going to shoot that kid. That was very scary.”
While the adults may be debating what happened last weekend, the children in attendance seem to be on the same page, regardless of race.
Parents, activists, and local pastors showed up at McKinney PD Headquarters Monday, demanding that the officer be thrown off the force. He remains on administrative leave.
Check out Brooke’s account of events below.
