A police officer pointed his gun at a group of children after they swore at him as he made an arrest and yelled: “Back up motherf***er”.
He has been placed under investigation after allegedly also choking one of the boys and forcing him to the ground during the confrontation in El Paso, Texas.
Footage of the incident has been viewed more than 5 million times after it was posted on social media.
The video shows him drawing his firearm and briefly pointing it a group of boys, who had been shouting insults at him as he held a young man against a fence.
He is heard yelling “back up motherf***er” before placing the gun back in his holster.
El Paso police said the officer, who has not named, had been responding to a complaint about criminal trespass. A large group of children were reported to have entered a vacant apartment without the owner’s permission, the force said in a statement.
Jacob Saucedo, 15, said he walking across the street when he was told to get “against the wall” by the officer.
His mother Elizabeth Flores told the El Paso Times the officer became “aggressive”, grabbed her son, and forced him to the ground.
At that stage the teenager's brother Julian Saucedo began filming the incident.
The officer is seen briefly pointing his handgun at the group before putting the weapon away. He then draws a baton as another officer handcuffs Jacob.
Julian was also arrested.
“What are you doing? Hey, I’m just recording,” the 17-year-old shouted as he was handcuffed.
His mother takes the phone and continues filming. he can be seen running away. As she does so, an officer can be heard telling her: “I know where you live.”
“I don’t know if the cop had a bad day,” Ms Flores said. “I don’t know why he got so aggressive as soon as he got here.”
The brothers were arrested and charged with interfering with police duties.
El Paso Police Department said the officer who pointed his gun at the children had been placed on desk duty during an internal investigation.
“What you’ve seen is just a small piece of a puzzle,” Enrique Carrillo told a press conference. “The investigation needs to come to a conclusion before we can make a determination as to whether there were policies or protocols that were violated.”
