Niya Kenny, 18, was taken into custody and held on $1,000 bail for “disturbing schools” after filming Senior Deputy Ben Fields as he overturned a student’s desk with her still in it.
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“Kenny said her classmate is only about 5’6” and said she never saw anything like it before. Niya is being hailed as one courageous enough to stand up to Fields and take out her phone to create video of the incident. Officer Fields has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation into the incident.
‘So when he came into the classroom, I immediately told my classmates “get your phones out, I think this is going to go downhill” and it did’. Additionally, he said Kenny should not have been charged for standing up for the other student.
A video recorded at a different angles appears to show the moment the student attempt to strike the officer before her desk is toppled. Robinson says it was a scary experience and there was no “justifiable reason” for the officer’s actions. The former student was accused by Fields of participating in a “gang related” fight in a Walmart parking lot near the school.
Fields is also a defendant in a civil suit, due to go to court in January, by another student who alleges he was inappropriately expelled from Spring Valley in 2013. On Monday, Fields was seen on video pulling a black female student from her desk during class. Fields has been put on leave, and the sheriff has asked federal authorities to investigate. In a third lawsuit, a woman who reported suspicion of child abuse accused Fields and another deputy of battery and violating her rights during a 2006 arrest.
The case has received less attention because both the officer and suspect were white, but it still demonstrates a persistent culture of excessive force and official tolerance. He also expressed doubt that race was a factor in the violent arrest.
Here’s Niya Kenny speaking to MSNBC’s Chris Hayes tonight, telling him that Officer Fields is well-known around school as “Officer Slam”, because he has a reputation for literally, physically slamming students, even pregnant ones.
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Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott speaks during a press conference. Sheriff’s Lt. Curtis Wilson said in a statement Tuesday that Lott has followed up the request with a letter to the U.S. Attorney for South Carolina, Bill Nettles, asking for the U.S. Justice Department and the FBI to investigate.
