Video shows teacher attacking a student

The West Contra Costa Unified School District launched an investigation this week after a video posted Monday appeared to show a student attacked by a substitute teacher at Richmond High School.

The video, first reported by KTVU, appears to show an argument that escalates when the teacher violently throws the student to the floor. The footage appears to begin with the teacher goading the student to “swing” and saying, “I ain’t swinging; my hands are behind my back.”

After an inaudible comment from the student, video appears to show the teacher grabbing the student by the chest and slamming him into a cabinet and onto the floor, telling the student, “Say it again.” The teacher then shoves the student out the door and into the hallway, saying, “Get the f— out my class.”

The district “is aware of an incident between a student and a substitute teacher that occurred at Richmond High School,” spokesperson Liz Sanders said in an email.

The district did not identify the teacher, who Sanders said is no longer employed by the district.

The teacher in the video had not been arrested as of Tuesday evening. Richmond Police Department detectives were investigating whether to charge the teacher for a misdemeanor battery crime, spokesperson Matt Stonebraker said.

The student in the video “is safe with their family,” Sanders said, adding that school officials were offering mental health resources and “facilitating restorative actions in the classroom” where the incident occurred.

Richmond High is one of seven high schools in a sprawling district that serves students from El Cerrito, Richmond, San Pablo, Pinole and Hercules, as well as several unincorporated areas.