South Carolina Cop Video: Police Officer Shown Body Slamming Female High School Student in Classroom
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has been asked to look into an incident in which a police officer was caught on video body slamming a female high school student inside a classroom in South Carolina.
The amateur video of the classroom incident at Spring Valley High School has attracted widespread criticism on the Internet, especially because the female student is African-American. Ben Fields, the deputy seen in the footage, has been placed on an administrative duty while an internal investigation is in the works, according to NBC News.
In an interview with NBC, a male student said the teacher told the girl in the video to proceed to the disciplinarian's office, but she had refused to do so. The officer was asked to intervene and he made the girl choose between going to the office on her own or be made to do so. Richland Country Sheriff Leon Lott also told NBC affiliate WIS said the female student stood her ground and refused to leave the room even when Fields put her under arrest, the report relays.
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In the video, Fields is seen grabbing the girl around the neck and leg and flipping her on the floor while she was still seated at her desk. Then the resource officer is shown hurling the girl across the floor while telling her to put her hands behind her back.
After the video surfaced, the Richland Two Black Parents Association called on the FBI to investigate the classroom confrontation, which the group said was an example of what many of the African American parents in the area have been experiencing, Chron reports.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of South Carolina also criticized the way the incident was handled, the report adds.
"There is no justification whatsoever for treating a child like this," NBC quotes the ACLU's issued statement.
As of now, Ben Fields has been instructed not to enter any of the schools in the District while the investigation into the incident in the video is still underway.
