On the heels of the events at the McKinney, Texas pool party incident, police officers in Ohio are under question after cell phone video showed them arresting using pepper spray on a Black family at a pool center. Police in the city of Fairfield claim they were trying to handle a case of disorderly conduct while the family contends that the cops were acting out of line.
Video of the June 9 incident at the Fairfield Aquatic Center was released yesterday (Jun. 16), with both police officials and a bishop speaking on behalf of Krystal Dixon and her family saying the clip supports their side of the story. Local outlet WLWT-TV published the cell phone video clip, which shows some white police officers arresting a few young Black people and what appears to be others fighting with the police.
More from WLWT-TV:
In a news conference, [Bishop Bobby] Hilton said Krystal Dixon brought eight children to the pool last Tuesday, but one child was ordered to leave, because he didn’t have proper swim trunks.
Hilton said Dixon went to get swim trunks but was told when she returned that the teen wouldn’t be allowed back in.
At that point, Hilton said, Dixon went to get the other kids from the pool, passing an officer who told her she had to leave.
Dixon told the officer that she had to get the rest of the kids and passed him. She retrieved the kids and was leaving when the officer grabbed her arm and said he had told her to leave, Hilton said.
In the video, it’s clear that a person’s arm was grabbed. However, Hilton maintains that nobody from Dixon’s group attacked officers at the pool. The bishop also added that Dixon’s accounts and the police reports do not match up and that Fairfield officers are lying.
Fairfield Chief Mike Dickey is defending the actions of his officers, saying that are “obligated to defend themselves” if they feel attacked.
Krystal Dixon, Maya Dixon, and two minors, a 15-year-old boy and 12-year-old girl, faced a variety of citations and charges including resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and assault.
Watch WLWT-TV’s video report of the Fairfield, Ohio pepper spray pool incident below.
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Photo: YouTube
