In this interview, the boy who filmed the shocking footage of Texas police officers beating and harassing black teenagers enjoying themselves at a pool party speaks out about what really happened in McKinney, TX.

Brandon Brooks, 15, reveals that the altercation erupted between upset neighbors and another adult; it is clear that the neighbor did not appreciate the presence of African-American teens in their neighborhood. “The cops showed up and the parents immediately started yelling, ‘you need more cops, there’s too many of them.’ And most of the kids weren’t even involved. It was a fight between a mom and girl, which had nothing to do with all the other kids that she apparently needed more cops for.”

It soon became even clearer that race was involved: “I was one of the only white people in the area when that was happening. You can see in part of the video where he tells us to sit down, and he kinda like skips over me and tells all my African-American friends to go sit down.”

It’s an astonishing story that illustrates the deep inherent racial discrimination that is embedded in the culture of American police officers today. These incidents keep happening again and again; there is no reasonable explanation for the cop to draw his weapon and aim it at unarmed teenagers enjoying their graduation, and it is absolutely unacceptable for a cop to throw a teenager to the ground by her hair, and to then sit on her to restrain her.

Watch it here: