A sheriff’s deputy in South Carolina is on leave after a video showed him pulling a female high school student from her desk and dragging her across a classroom. You’re seeing a very small chunk of what happened. “It’s something I have to deal with and that’s what we’re going to be doing”. They don’t show what happened before, including what the student did and how many times authorities – a teacher, a school administrator and finally the officer – had asked her to get up.
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The video shows Fields asking a girl to rise from a classroom desk.
Department spokesman Lt. Curtis Wilson said at a press conference Monday evening that the student was initially asked to leave the classroom, but refused.
A second student, who recorded the violent take-down, was also arrested.
A founding member of the Richland Two Black Parents Association said the group was saddened but not surprised by the encounter in a school district that in the past two decades has transformed from being predominantly white to majority black.
“Next, the administrator called Deputy Fields in… he asked, ‘will you move, ‘ and she said ‘no, I haven’t done anything wrong, ‘ Robinson said”. Fields is white, and the student involved in black, according to Wilson.
Americans also spoke out against the assault – many through the hashtag #AssaultAtSpringValleyHigh.
“To be thrown out of her seat as she was thrown, and dumped on the floor…”
“I think sometimes our officers are put in uncomfortable positions when a teacher can’t control a student”, the sheriff said.
“I was praying out loud for the girl and I just, I couldn’t believe it was happening”, said Kenny. After the student’s refusal, Fields was called in to remove her.
“And that is where it started, right there”, the student said. He said that after he was handcuffed, Officer Fields lifted him by the handcuffs for a few seconds.
“A complete and thorough investigation is what we both want as well as the public”, Lott said in a statement. He says Fields used excessive force, slamming Martin to the ground, kicking him, and spraying him with an entire can of mace.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson called the video a “national disgrace”. “This man should be arrested, charged, fired and sued”, Jackson said.
Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin also called for an independent investigation. Superintendent Dr. Debbie Hamm stated.
“We saw a pretty routine discipline issue become a criminal issue in just a matter of minutes”, said Lavarello, head of the School Safety Advocacy Council. Hamm said student safety is always the top priority and the district will not tolerate any actions that jeopardize student safety.
“What we all watched on that shamefully shocking video is reprehensible, unforgivable, and inconsistent with everything that this district stands for, what we work for, and what we aspire to be”, Manning said.
“Too often, these teachers in these schools are calling on the cops because they have a disruptive student in the classroom”, Houck said.
Fields has been accused of excessive force and racial bias before, but has prevailed in court so far. In that suit, a former Spring Valley student says he was expelled unfairly, after Fields investigated possible gang activity.
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Fields is also a defendant, along with several others, in another lawsuit that’s still pending, but that case does not involve the use of force.
