The family involved in a viral video showing a confrontation with Royse City police is accusing an officer of using excessive force during arrests outside a neighborhood pool.
The allegations come after the family and its attorneys reviewed more than an hour of body-camera and dash-camera footage Thursday. The Royse City Police Department has not released the footage publicly, saying the incident remains under internal investigation.
Two women, Janiaca Wheeler and her daughter, Amaiyah Allen-Smith, were arrested following the August 4 incident at the Creekside community pool. Both women were charged, but Royse City police dropped the charges the following day.
What Happened at the Pool
Police initially responded to a disturbance call at the neighborhood pool. The family and its attorneys said the dispute involved an argument with an older couple at the pool.
After officers cleared the original disturbance, attorneys said police instructed the family to leave and remain on the sidewalk as they returned to their vehicle.
According to the family’s attorneys and activists who reviewed the police footage, the situation escalated after Allen-Smith stepped into the roadway.
They allege the officer at the center of the investigation approached the group and took one of the women to the ground rather than de-escalating the encounter.
Edited video previously released publicly shows an officer pulling Wheeler to the ground by her hair while other officers push women and a child. Wheeler has said that six of her dreadlocks were pulled out during the encounter.
The family’s attorneys said the officer involved is a training officer with the Royse City Police Department.
Family Demands Release of Video
On Thursday, Wheeler, Allen-Smith, their attorneys, and representatives of the Next Generation Action Network met with Royse City Police Chief Kirk Aldridge to review the body-camera footage and discuss possible accountability.
The family did not speak to reporters after viewing the footage.
Minister Dominique Alexander, founder of the Next Generation Action Network, said the footage showed what happened before the portion of the encounter that had circulated online.
“This is probably one of the worst videos I have seen,” Alexander said.
Attorneys Sean Daredia and Blerim Elmazi also criticized the officer’s actions and called for the officer to be fired and potentially face criminal charges.
Daredia challenged the police department to release the complete footage publicly.
“If the police, the department, feels anything I said is misstated, release that entire tape,” Daredia said.
The family’s attorneys said the footage includes statements by an officer directing other officers to use force against the women. Those statements have not been independently verified because the full video has not been publicly released.
Officer Placed on Administrative Leave
The officer involved has been placed on paid administrative leave while the department conducts an internal investigation. Royse City police have declined to comment on the investigation while it is ongoing.
In a statement provided to NBC 5, the department said it does not publicly comment on internal investigations while they are underway.
“Once the internal investigation is completed, the police department will release its findings and will disclose any and all actions taken,” the department said.
The department has not publicly released the body-camera footage reviewed by the family.
The family has filed a formal complaint over the incident and is seeking accountability from the police department. The family’s attorneys and civil rights advocates are calling for the officer’s termination and for criminal charges to be considered.
The police department’s internal investigation remains ongoing, and no findings regarding whether the officer violated department policy have been released.
Provided by Dallas Express
