Homeowners in the neighborhood who were witnesses to the ruckus at the McKinney, Texas, neighborhood community pool both defended the officers who have been attacked about their handling of the situation, and thanked them for coming to their aid and keeping them safe.
Breitbart Texas reported about the left media condemning the police in McKinney for how they handled a private subdivision pool party when 70 uninvited teens and others showed up and engaged in everything from pot smoking to assault at the party.
Teens who were not invited climbed the fence to get in. The trouble began when they were asked to leave.
Peace officers were called to the scene because the teens were not only engaging in trespass, and allegedly drinking and smoking pot, they also assaulted a mother with three children.
Breitbart Texas reported the assault and violence at the party which was portrayed as an “innocent pool party” by the left media. Law enforcement officers were called because of the violence that was occurring there. A video of the assault is included in the article.
The liberal media has concentrated on one officer’s actions in responding to the situation, and not the teens who were committing trespass, assault, and other crimes.
McKinney community residents were reported to have said they believed the “officers’ safety was at risk.”
A review of the video right before the officer pulled his gun, shows two black teenagers coming up behind him on his gun side as he was bending over. One of these teenagers was rather large. The officer then pulled his weapon but quickly returned it to his holster after the two teenagers ran away.
This photo was posted on Twitter by Lauren Zakalik who wrote “One #McKinneyTX resident visibly and vocally supporting the officers, says he saw whole thing Friday.”
Another homeowner appeared on camera on Fox4 in Dallas but only her hands were filmed. She said “I feel absolutely horrible for the police and what’s going on … they were completely outnumbered and they were just doing the right thing when these kids were fleeing and using profanity and threatening security guards.”
Fox 4 Screenshot
Bryan Gestner, a resident, put this message on his Facebook page:
This was a Twitter party that turned mob event. Jumping pool fence. Assaulting 2 security guards, attacking a mother with three little girls. The video doesn’t show everything. … I commend the officer for handling this situation.
Gestner also said the kids who trespassed on the event were smoking marijuana and drinking and would not listen to the adults at the pool. He added:
This isn’t about race … This is about outside kids invading our neighborhood and had no respect for authority or the residents here.
While those who saw a few seconds of the video quickly condemned the police officer, others on social media had different reactions.
Bob Owens took to Twitter and commented “Observation: Most of the people who routinely bash the police are criminals, family members of criminals, or naïve teens.”
Mr. Owens also correctly noted that the girl in question in the video “turned [back around] and RETURNED talking junk to the officer. This is failure to disperse, a crime.”
As reported by Breitbart Texas, “A person commits an offense if he intentionally flees from a peace officer attempting lawfully to arrest or detain him,” and “An officer may lawfully detain individuals if there is a reasonable suspicion that the person engaged in unlawful action, like fighting or trespass.”
If there were individuals trespassing on private property because they did not have consent to be there, and they were told that entry was forbidden (signs or verbal communications that the community pool was only for private residences in the area), or were asked to leave and they did not, they were committing the crime of trespass. Fighting is an assault, another crime.
And peace officers have the lawful right to detain individuals if there is reasonable suspicion that the person was engaged in unlawful action, like fighting or trespass, or smoking pot.
Individuals could also be arrested or detained for interfering with the duties of a peace officer and evading arrest, and one adult male was arrested for these offenses.
At the very least, when a peace officer tells you to leave the premises, you need to leave.
Bob Owens posted on Twitter that “The girl who became the center of the #McKinney video was part of a group that was told repeatedly to disperse. Most left. She didn’t.”
Lana Shadwick is a contributing writer and legal analyst for Breitbart Texas. She has served the state as a prosecutor and as an associate judge. Follow her on Twitter@LanaShadwick2
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