Tatiana Rhodes, party host, in a video interview
According to bystanders, police were called to a pool party in McKinney, Texas, after an altercation between a mother and a teenager.
Brandon Brooks, 15, shot the video which has over 4 million views on Youtube since Saturday. Brooks, who is white, spoke to Buzzfeed about the incident he witnessed:
“I think a bunch of white parents were angry that a bunch of black kids who don’t live in the neighborhood were in the pool,” said Brooks, who is white.
A woman who claims to be the host of the pool party spoke to Mediatakeout about the incident that led to the police call. She said the incident began when two women, who were both white, came over and started telling the party-goers that they didn’t belong in the neighborhood, and made racist assertions about their housing and economic backgrounds. The argument became physical when one of the white women slapped the party host in the face.
The HOST Of The POOL PARTY In McKinney Texas SPEAKS OUT . . . There Were A LOT Of Misconceptions About What REALLY HAPPENED . . . And She Clears It ALL UP!! (FULL Story WITH FACTS Here – bit.ly/1FKRBBX)
Posted by Mediatakeout on Monday, June 8, 2015
One Twitter user, K1dmars, has video of the fight described above, that reportedly led to the police call: (Trigger warning: violence)
When @Keef_Cakez beat that ass pic.twitter.com/EhB5mY2aus
— Miles(K-Bandz) (@k1dmars) June 6, 2015
Other teenagers gave similar accounts to Buzzfeed.
From the article:
Grace Stone, a white 14-year-old, told BuzzFeed News that when she and her friends objected to the racist comments about public housing an adult woman then became violent.
Greg Conley, McKinney Chief of Police, held a press conference on Sunday to address the incident and inform citizens of their process now in reviewing the situation.
The McKinney Police Department has also published this statement on the incident on their Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/mckinneypolice/posts/344693609073689
Religious leaders have spoken out about the incident on Twitter, focusing on the racial dynamics reported by Buzzfeed and bystanders.
The Rev. Wil Gafney:
400 years of white male abuse of black girls and women is written in this image. pic.twitter.com/YfMYkOXqXR
— Wil Gafney (@WilGafney) June 7, 2015
The Rev. Brad Landry, Episcopal priest, identified this incident, and silence on it, as a matter of sin.
Racism & white privilege have real consequences. So does silence. This is not okay, this is sin. #McKinney https://t.co/ejXlGMxgEQ
— Brad Landry (@FrBradLandry) June 7, 2015
The Rev. Broderick Greer, a deacon, shared his thoughts on the theology of reconciliation, forgiveness, and pacifism, and criticized people trying to draw equivalencies between the officer and the teenager.
The cross of Jesus does not sanction violence but is God's cosmic critique of senseless brutality.
— Broderick Greer (@BroderickGreer) June 7, 2015
But if "both sides" is an armed, adult man and an unarmed, teenage girl being brutalized by him, only one side needs forgiving.
— Broderick Greer (@BroderickGreer) June 8, 2015
Some commented on my "No Reconciliation w/o Reparations" speech saying that God doesn't ask us or reparations before forgiving us.
— Broderick Greer (@BroderickGreer) June 8, 2015
@BroderickGreer Why do we insist on using the word "forgive" as a weapon?
— Kristen Pitts (@krinipi) June 8, 2015
I'm still trying to figure that out as well. Why must the onus be on those on the receiving end of violence? https://t.co/4NERGnJUgX
— Broderick Greer (@BroderickGreer) June 8, 2015
Greer also offered a critique of ‘doormat’ theology offered by white Christians in response to this latest incident, and proposes an alternative movement and the means to achieve it.
White Christian pacifism would have all black people dead before offering an alternative to being eschatological doormats.
— Broderick Greer (@BroderickGreer) June 8, 2015
This means going out of our way to listen to and partner with people we would otherwise have never built coalitions with.
— Broderick Greer (@BroderickGreer) June 8, 2015
Is your church involved in the type of work Greer describes? What does this latest case of brutality say to you as a person of faith? What do you think ministers and churches should be doing about this violence?
Posted by David Streever