Texas police officer trips, pushes students after soccer championship

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Texas Police Officer Trips, Pushes Students After Soccer Championship
Texas Police Officer Trips, Pushes Students After Soccer Championship


It was supposed to be crowd control, but according to students and the Georgetown police department in Austin, Texas, the actions of one officer at a recent soccer championship were just uncalled for.



"A Texas police officer has been put on leave after he was caught on video tripping students as they run onto the field after a soccer game. He is later seen shoving students away from the sidelines."

KVUE says the Vandegrift High School girl's soccer team had just claimed the 4A title. Of course, fans were excited. It was the first time any soccer program in Austin had won the state championship.

But it appears school resource officer George Bermudez wasn't in the mood to celebrate.

In this video, Bermudez appears to be trying to stop the student body from running on the field. Police say he tripped one student, tried to trip another and grabbed another to get them to leave the field.

One student told KXAN school administrators had discouraged students from running onto the field.

But she says it's no different than what they've done in the past at other school sports. Either way, there were better options for controlling the fans.

"I think what would've been the appropriate response would've been to like shoo kids off. I didn't think the force was necessary."

Neither did Georgetown police. They've placed Bermudez on paid leave.

Interestingly, the Austin American-Statesman reports Bermudez was named an outstanding police officer last year. He's been working for the department since 2005 and has no history of reprimands.

Georgetown police say Bermudez's actions are uncharacteristic. The incident is currently under investigation.

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