Chicago---A white policeman filmed pulling a gun at a Texas pool party attended mainly by black teenagers acted out of stress rather than racism, his lawyer said Wednesday, a day after he quit.
Eric Casebolt is in hiding because of death threats, according to his lawyer, who said the policeman resigned from the McKinney force in hopes of easing tensions in the Dallas suburb after the video went viral and provoked outrage.
It comes at a time of heightened racial tensions following a series of incidents involving questionable use of sometimes lethal police force in black communities across the United States.
The footage -- which has been seen 11 million times on YouTube -- shows Casebolt pinning a bikini-clad black girl to the ground and placing his knees on her back.
He is also seen pulling out his gun when two young black men approach the distraught girl, who was screaming for help as he pushed her face down into the sidewalk by the back of the neck.
"He was not targeting minorities," attorney Jane Bishkin told a press conference. "In fact, he also detained a white female who you do not see on the video."
Casebolt "allowed his emotions to get the better of him" because he was still recovering emotionally from two harrying suicide calls earlier that day, she said.
The first involved a man who had shot himself in front of his children and other families at an apartment pool. Later that same day, Friday, Casebolt helped to calm a teenager who was threatening to jump off her parents' roof.
Casebolt "never intended to mistreat anyone" and "apologizes to all who were offended," his lawyer added.
"It is his hope that by his resignation the community may start to heal."
AFP
