An El Paso police officer pointed his gun at children and others cursing at him during an arrest, shows a video that has gone viral with 4.7 million views while being shared 67,000 times since it was posted on Facebook on Friday.
The video shows part of the incident last Thursday in front of the Seville Recreation Center in south-central El Paso, the El Paso Times reported. The profanity-filled video was made as the officers responded to a criminal trespassing complaint.
Several boys could be seen in the video yelling as the unidentified officer pulled out his handgun, pointed it at them and yelled "Back up. Back up (expletive)."
The officer put his weapon back in the holster after a few seconds as the boys cursed at him.
KDBC-TV reported that two people were arrested on a charge of interfering with the duties of a police officer.
The Times reported that the names of the officers, and the two people arrested have not been released.
"The initial call went out as a criminal trespassing in progress," El Paso Police Department spokesman Sgt. Enrique Carrillo said at a news conference on Saturday.
"The officers arrived and were handling that when they encountered the suspect involved in the criminal trespass and from there the events you witnessed in this video unfolded and that is where we are at."
Dionne Mack, the deputy city manager for public safety, said the officers involved in the incident have been placed on desk duty until the investigation is finished, according to KDBC-TV.
Officials told the television station that no one filed complaints against the officer in the video regarding this incident.
Elizabeth Flores told KDBC-TV that while the children were disrespectful, police escalated the incident.
"They didn't see the beginning," Flores told the television station. "They didn't see my son getting choked. That's why the kids were agitated."
Neighbor Teresa Chacon, though, sided with police officers in the incident.
"I personally am on the side of the law because the video shows they were disrespecting the cop,” Chacon told KDBC-TV. "Nowadays, they don't respect anyone. They throw rocks, they sneak into one property and these are boys whose mothers should be corrected."
Mack told the television station that she did not approve of the children's behavior, but she expects officers to follow proper protocol.
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