Disturbing Video Shows School Cop Dragging Girl From Desk And Throwing Her Across The Room

A video of a Columbia, South Carolina high school police
officer brutally assaulting a quiet, seated 15-year-old student is quickly
going viral on social media.

In the video, Officer Ben Fields, who patrols Spring Valley
High School, is seen accosting a seated student, yanking on her arm to make her
stand up. When she refuses, Officer Fields lifts her and the desk into the air,
slams the student on her back, drags her to the front of the classroom, and
tells her to put her hands behind her back.

In a statement to local media, Richland County Sheriff Leon
Lott said that Officer Ben Fields, who is Spring Valley’s official School
Resource Officer (SRO), was responding to a student who was refusing to leave
class.

“The student was told she was under arrest for disturbing
school and given instructions which she again refused,” Lott told
Live5News.com. “The video then shows the student resisting and being arrested
by the SRO.”

A local group called the Richland Two Black Parents
Association have also released a statement in response to the video, condemning
Officer Fields’ actions.

“Parents are heartbroken as this is just another example of
the intolerance that continues to be of issue in Richland School District Two
particularly with families and children of color. As we have stated in the
past, we stand ready to work in collaboration to address these horrible acts of
violence and inequities among our children,” the statement read.

New York Daily News senior justice writer Shaun King, who
originally tweeted the video, said students who surreptitiously recorded
Officer Ben Fields’ brutality said he was widely known as abusive throughout
the school.