As a number of protests against racial injustice will be held Sunday across Dallas-Fort Worth, organizers with the Next Generation Action Network want to remind people of an incident that happened just over five years ago when a McKinney police officer was seen using his knees to pin down a 15-year-old girl in a bikini during a pool party.
Seven minutes of video posted to YouTube put Cpl. Eric Casebolt and the city of McKinney in the national spotlight in June 2015.
In the video, Casebolt is seen using profanity toward a number of teens in attendance and aggressively throwing Dejarria Becton to the ground, face down, outside the pool party in Craig Ranch before he appeared to pin her down with his knees.
A Collin County grand jury later determined there was not enough evidence to warrant criminal charges against Casebolt, who had worked for the McKinney Police Department for 10 years.
"What he did wasn't right," Becton said in 2016. “I think more should have been done. I don’t think he should have just walked away.”
“McKinney may very well be the best place to live in the U.S. -- as long as you’re not an African-American,” Kim T. Cole, an attorney for Dejarria Becton, said in 2016.
An event remembering the incident and calling for change will be held by NGAN at 5 p.m. Sunday in front of Dowell Middle School.
"McKinney has been putting its knees on the necks of its black citizens for years," a Facebook description of the event states.
Organizers continue on in the description to say they are calling for police reform and justice in McKinney.
Other events planned for Sunday in North Texas include:
- 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.: The National Injustice Rally was held outside Dallas police headquarters.
- 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.: A praise and worship gathering was held in downtown Dallas at 133 N. Riverfront Boulevard.
- 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.: A Black Lives Matter Peaceful Gathering at Olde City Park in Wylie encouraged people to come together to show the community "believes in equality, justice and love for black people everywhere."
- 12 p.m.: The "Peaceful Keller BLM March," supported by the Keller Police Department, was held at Bear Creek Park.
- 3 p.m.: A "die-in" protest supported by the Next Generation Action Network will be held with Dallas-Fort Worth healthcare professionals at the Trinity Skyline Trail, where participants will be wearing their white coats and discussing racism in medicine and looking at "police brutality and systemic racism as public health emergencies."
- 3 p.m.: The UNT Dallas College of Law Black Law Students Association is holding a march to Dallas City Hall from Main Street Garden "to bring awareness to the prevalent injustices that have plagued our community."
- 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.: Dance Hub of DFW is hosting a dance protest and rally at John F. Kennedy Memorial Plaza in Dallas with speeches from leaders in the community, dance demonstrations, movement in silence and a table talk.
- 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.: The "Hungry for Change: I Stand with You. A Call to Action" rally will be held at the Plano Municipal Center to discuss how to foster systemic change. Voter registration will be available and families are welcome.
- 3 p.m.: The "We are George Floyd" march will begin at Market Square in downtown Greenville at 3 p.m. to protest police brutality and systemic racism. Organizers ask that those attending arrive before the march begins.
- 3:30 p.m.: The Grand Prairie NAACP will hold a Justice for Floyd Solidarity news conference in front of Grand Prairie City Hall.
- 5 p.m.: Students will lead a march in Celina, supported by Celina city officials, from Old Celina Park to Celina Square to protest against injustice and racism.
- 5:30 p.m.: Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Adam Medrano and Dallas City Council member Adam Bazaldua are hosting a Black Lives Matter march that will meet at Deep Ellum Brewing Company before heading to Fair Park.
- 5:45 p.m. to 8 p.m.: Greater Community Missionary Baptist Church will hold a "peaceful walk and time of prayer" from the church to Arlington City Hall with Rev. Kennedy Jones, who "marched on the Selma bridge with his father back in the 1960s."
- 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.: ONE Church is hosting the "Making New History March and Rally" in Midlothian. The march will begin at the Midlothian Police Department and end in downtown Midlothian, where the rally will begin.
- 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.: United My Justice is holding a "peaceful protest through downtown Fort Worth."
- 8 p.m.: A "Peaceful Protest Against Racism and Police Brutality" will be held at the Denton County Courthouse on the Square, along with an overnight vigil from Sunday night to Monday morning where demonstrators will sit-in and discuss police brutality.
- 9 p.m.: First Christian Church of Rowlett is asking people to light a battery-operated candle or flashlight in their driveway or around their church, apartment or business for its Light the Way for Hope, Peace and Unity event.
- 9 p.m.: The Dallas Silent Protest is asking people to do a similar act, by pointing a flashlight or emergency towards the sky at exactly 9 p.m. for 8 minutes and 46 seconds from their home to remember George Floyd.
Follow along below for live updates throughout the day:
Black Lives Matter group marches to Fair Park
Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Adam Medrano and Dallas City Council member Adam Bazaldua are hosting a Black Lives Matter march that will meet at Deep Ellum Brewing Company before heading to Fair Park.
The crowd went from Main Street to Malcolm X Boulevard to Park Row to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and back to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
In McKinney, calls for police reform and justice five years after pool party incident
An event remembering the incident and calling for change was held by NGAN at 5 p.m. Sunday in front of Dowell Middle School.
"McKinney has been putting its knees on the necks of its black citizens for years," a Facebook description of the event states.
Organizers said they are calling for police reform and justice in McKinney.
Protesters hold dance-based demonstration at JFK memorial
A large crowd was in attendance as Dance Hub of DFW hosted a dance protest and rally Sunday afternoon at John F. Kennedy Memorial Plaza in Dallas with speeches from leaders in the community and dance demonstrations.
'Die-in' at Trinity Skyline Trail
A "die-in" protest supported by the Next Generation Action Network with Dallas-Fort Worth healthcare professionals was held Sunday at the Trinity Skyline Trail, where participants wore their white coats and discussed racism in medicine and looked at "police brutality and systemic racism as public health emergencies."
Protesters gather outside Dallas police headquarters
Protesters gather in downtown Dallas on June 7
A group of protesters demonstrated in front of Dallas police headquarters early Sunday afternoon before marching past Botham Jean's apartment, where they stopped to kneel.
WFAA digital producers Jake Harris and Jennifer Prohov contributed to this report.