A Texas police officer pulled his gun on a group of kids. Now, he’s doing desk duty
First, he told the children to “back up.” Then he pointed his gun at them.
An El Paso, Texas, police officer has been placed on desk duty after a chaotic cellphone video of him pulling a gun on a group of children was posted to Facebook on Friday.
According to the El Paso Police Department, the officer was responding to a criminal trespass call in the area Thursday evening. The city and police department have begun an investigation into the incident and for the time being, the officer who pulled his gun has been placed on desk duty, according to Dionne Mack, the El Paso deputy city manager for public safety and support services.
A gun comes out and it’s captured on camera
A video of the incident, uploaded to Facebook by user Aj-king Stoner on Friday, has since been viewed almost 5 million times.
The camera begins rolling in the middle of an altercation in front of the Seville Community Center in El Paso, Texas, where a group of young children are shouting insults at a police officer who is holding a young man against a fence. He tells the other the children to “back up, mother******” and pulls his gun out, pointing it at them for a moment before putting it back in his holster.
All the while, he is pinning the boy’s head against a stone column with his knee. The young man repeatedly says: “He just assaulted me.”
Over cries of “You can’t do that to him!” and insults from the group, a second officer helps drag the boy onto the road where he is handcuffed face down on the asphalt. The first officer tells the kids to “get back” again, and this time whips out his baton, extending it toward the group and pushing them with his hands to get away.
The officer extended his baton toward the crowd of children.
While the boy is held against the road, his brother, who is filming the event, calls out to him, according to CNN affiliate KVIA. “It’s all good,” he says. “We are going to put a report on these two fools. It’s all good.”
The police officer who pulled out his gun earlier then grabs the boy who is filming.
“What are you doing — hey I’m just recording!” he shouts as he is handcuffed.
That’s when the brothers’ mother, Elizabeth Flores, takes the phone and continues the video, according to KVIA.