A new video with a much clearer angle shows the brute force used Monday by a South Carolina police “resource” officer who attacked a non-violent teenaged girl. And he’s no stranger to civil rights lawsuits.
Sheriff’s deputy Ben Fields is on administrative leave after students in Columbia, South Carolina captured him on video grabbing a female student seated at her desk by the neck, tossing her over then dragging her to the floor and across the classroom. According to one student present in the room, the unnamed student who was violently attacked by the police officer had refused to leave the room after the teacher told her to stop chewing gum. Another student says she was asked by the teacher to give up her cell phone but refused.
Here’s new video which offers a much clearer angle than the first video and reveals the true nature of the brutality waged upon the student:
Addicting Info reports they spoke with Aaron Johnson and verified he is a Spring Valley High School student by seeing his ID. Here are his tweets:
“Some of the other students were frozen in shock, but a few students were trying to find out what was going on,” Johnson says. “The teacher seemed aloof after they left, considering he continued right on with the lesson.”
UPDATE –
Watch: Student Who Filmed Officer Dragging Girl Asks, How Did A Cop ‘Let It Get To That Point?’
International Business Times reports “there are two lawsuits filed against Fields in federal court, claiming he targets African-American students.”
One case was filed in November 2013, by a former student at Spring Valley named Ashton Reese, who sued Fields and the school district for violating civil rights. Reese was reportedly expelled after an “unlawful assembly of gang activity and assault and battery†after an investigation by Fields said that he was involved in a fight behind a store near the school. However, the lawsuit said, according to the Times, that Fields “unfairly and recklessly targets African-American students with allegations of gang membership and criminal gang activity.â€
In 2007, another lawsuit was filed against Fields, Lott and another deputy named Robert Clark by a couple — Carlos Martin and his wife, Tashiana Martin — for violating their civil rights, while the officials were investigating a complaint for excessive noise. The lawsuit claimed that Fields slammed Carlos to the ground, handcuffed him and kicked him several times, because Carlos called him “dude,†without meaning to be disrespectful. The lawsuit added that Fields used and emptied a bottle of pepper spray at Carlos. Meanwhile, Clark confiscated a cell phone that Tashiana used to record the incident, threw her against a vehicle, handcuffed her and then threw her into the police car. Fields is also accused of making a lewd comment to Tashiana while she was being driven away. In 2010, a jury ruled in favor of the deputies in the case by the Martins. They appealed, but the court upheld the lower court’s verdict.
Sheriff Leon Lott has requested the FBI and Dept. of Justice investigate.
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UPDATE:Â Democratic Candidates Respond To Video Of Police Officer Violently Dragging Student From Her Desk