FBI investigating ‘disturbing’ arrest
Cop flipped student out of desk, tossed her across floor
COLUMBIA, S.C.— The FBI has launched a civil rights investigation on Tuesday into the arrest of a student who refused to leave her high school math class, where a deputy was recorded flipping the girl backward over her desk and tossing her across the classroom floor.
Federal help was sought by Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott, who called what happened at Spring Valley High School in Columbia, S.C., “very disturbing” and placed Senior Deputy Ben Fields on leave.
The sheriff’s department said no one was hurt, but the confrontation prompted outrage after several students recorded part of it and shared the video. One student said it started when the girl pulled out her cellphone and refused her math teacher’s request to hand it over during class.
During the moments posted online, Fields can be seen standing over the girl, telling her to stand up or be forcibly removed. When she refuses, the officer wraps a forearm around her neck, flips her and the desk backward onto the floor, and then tosses her toward the front of the classroom, where he handcuffs her.
A second student verbally objected to the girl’s treatment and also was arrested. Both girls were charged with disturbing schools and released to their parents. Their names were not released, but the second student, Niya Kenny, said she was shocked by the use of force and felt she had to say something.
Lieut. Curtis Wilson confirmed that Fields is white and the students involved are black, but said in an email to “keep in mind this is not a race issue.”
The district’s Black Parents Association refuted this, saying the video “revealed what many African-American parents have experienced in this district for a very long time.”