Viral Video Shows Texas Cop Pulling Gun On Kids; Cop Given Desk Duty

An El Paso, Texas police officer has come under fire after a viral video apparently captured him pointing a gun at a group of children.

In a Facebook video posted by a user named “Aj-king Stoner” on Friday, an officer can be seen interacting with a group of children, some of whom shout obscenities at him. 

At one point in the video, the officer points his gun at the group of children. At another point, the officer who pulled out the gun throws a minor to the ground and handcuffs him with the help of a second officer.

“Hahahaha f--k the cops,” the Facebook user wrote in the caption of the video, which has been viewed more than 5 million times since Friday.

The officer was responding to a criminal trespass call when the video was shot Thursday, according to a press release from the El Paso Police Department. The department’s Internal Affairs Unit has since launched an investigation into the incident, the release stated.

KTSM later identified the child seen taken to the ground in the video as 15-year-old Jacob Saucedo, who told the station that he believes the altercation occurred because he was walking across the street at the same time the officers arrived in response to the initial call. The officers told him to get against the wall for questioning, and after an exchange of words, things got physical, Saucedo told KTSM.

“I’m just mad because I don’t know why the officer just choked me,” Saucedo said to KTSM.

The officer in the video — a four-year veteran of the department whose name has not been shared — has been given desk duty, pending the investigation, according to the release.

El Paso Deputy City Manager Dionne L. Mack and El Paso Police Department spokesman Sgt. Enrique Carrillo addressed the incident at a news conference on Saturday, the El Paso Times reports.

Carrillo confirmed that an adult and a minor were arrested during the incident for interfering with the duties of a police officer. No injuries were reported, and none of the citizens involved have filed any complaints against the officers in the video, Mack said.

When asked if the officer who pulled out his gun followed the proper protocol for the situation, Mack responded that the investigation will have to determine that.

“The whole investigation process with IA will determine whether the officer followed protocol, look at all of the related incidents that surrounded that, take an opportunity to do interviews, and go through that entire process, so all the facts are gathered before any conclusions are drawn,” she continued.

[Photo: Facebook/Aj-king Stoner]