New video of police arresting four have many people crying racism and brutality. However, other accounts of the incident might reveal more to the story than recorded.
You aren’t misreading anything — this is yet another incident at a swimming pool involving police and race. It hasn’t been a month since news broke of a Texas cop pulling his gun on teens at a swimming pool, and now a similar situation has occurred.
RT News reveals four people — two adults and two adolescents — were arrested after reports of an altercation involving a family and staff at a community pool in Fairfield, Ohio. Video of the arrest shows multiple officers subduing young black teens, including one using what looks like a choke hold. Adults Krystal Dixon, her sister Maya and a 15-year-old boy were charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. A 12-year-old girl was also charged with resisting arrest in addition to assault.
The Dixon family is accusing Fairfield police officers of brutality and excessive use of force. There were even claims the 12-year-old involved suffered a fractured rib and broken jaw, but those allegations have since been dismissed.
Krystal Dixon states she dropped off eight children at the Fairfield Aquatic Center before leaving to pick up her sister, Maya. When informed that one of her nephews did not have the proper swimwear and was asked to leave, she returned to the pool to provide the necessary attire. Still, staff members insisted her group vacate the premises, as they had violated rules and became disorderly when advised of the situation. Krystal claims a park ranger asked for her identification and, when she refused, took her by the arm, threatening to arrest her. Because of this action, many children in the party tried to step in, causing staff to call 911.
As you would expect, members of the aquatic center staff have a different recollection of what transpired.
Daytona Journal-News reports a staff member called 911 after unsuccessfully getting the adolescents to leave the pool because of their behavior. The exchange allegedly became violent, with the park ranger trying to break up a fight. A police report mentions that Krystal Dixon “aggressively confronted pool staff” when asked to leave. When police arrived at the scene, the report alleges that Dixon and her sister began striking officers, which led to others in their party trying to join in.
Audio from the 911 call indicates those trying to videotape the incident wanted to make it look racially motivated. “They’re videotaping, trying to make it look like a racist thing, and it’s not at all,” an employee states to the 911 dispatcher. “They were breaking our policies. We told them they couldn’t be here anymore, and it’s really scary, and I don’t feel safe.”
Fairfield police officer Doug Day believes the officers used great restraint. “At one point, one of our officers felt his gun was being taken away from him,” claims Day. “The only weapon he used was the OC spray to get someone off the back of the officer.”
This situation is completely crazy to me. If we just went off video, it would — once again — look like another case of police brutality against blacks. As a black American, I’m not ignorant to the fact that situations like this unfortunately still occur in modern times. Yet as the daughter of a retired police officer, I also am aware at how one’s actions (or reactions) come into play. I don’t think any 12-year-old needs to be manhandled by someone twice her size, but at the same time, I feel that not complying with police when they ask you to leave is just pure craziness. My parents would slap me into next week if I ever spoke to someone in authority in such a disrespectful manner. Yes, it definitely does not justify any horrific actions on their end, but my goodness, you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.
With all of this “he said, she said, they said,” who knows if we’ll ever get to the bottom of what really happened? At least to me, it’s not worth it to get arrested for not leaving a swimming pool — especially children. If I ever felt there was discrimination involved, I would rather fight through legal action and not against the police.
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