COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A girl who refused to surrender her phone after texting in math class was flipped backward and tossed across the classroom floor by a sheriff's deputy, prompting a federal civil rights probe on Tuesday.
http://news.yahoo.com/sheriff-seeks-information-officer-student-confrontation-103158239.html#

The sheriff said the girl "may have had a rug burn" but was not injured, and said the teacher and vice principal felt the officer acted appropriately. Still, videos of the confrontation between a white officer and black teenager stirred such outrage that he called the FBI and Justice Department for help.

Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott suspended Senior Deputy Ben Fields without pay, and said what he did at Spring Valley High School in Columbia made him want to "throw up."

"Literally, it just makes you sick to your stomach when you see that initial video. But again, that's a snapshot," he said.

Videos taken by students and posted online show Fields warning the girl to leave her seat or be forcibly removed on Monday. The officer then wraps a forearm around her neck, flips her and the desk backward onto the floor, tosses her toward the front of the classroom and handcuffs her.

Lott pointed out at a news conference that the girl can also be seen trying to strike the officer as she was being taken down, but said he's focused on the deputy's actions as he decides within 24 hours whether Fields should remain on the force.

"I think sometimes our officers are put in uncomfortable positions when a teacher can't control a student," the sheriff said, promising to be fair.

Email, phone and text messages for Fields were not returned.

The deputy also arrested a second teenager who verbally objected to his actions. Both girls were charged with disturbing schools and released to their parents. Their names were not officially released.

The second student, Niya Kenny, told WLTX-TV that she felt she had to say something. Doris Kenny said she's proud her daughter was "brave enough to speak out against what was going on."

Lt. Curtis Wilson told The Associated Press in an email to "keep in mind this is not a race issue."


"Race is indeed a factor," countered South Carolina's NAACP president, Lonnie Randolph Jr., who praised the Justice Department for agreeing to investigate.

"To be thrown out of her seat as she was thrown, and dumped on the floor ... I don't ever recall a female student who is not of color (being treated this way). It doesn't affect white students," Randolph said.

The sheriff, for his part, said race won't factor into his evaluation: "It really doesn't matter to me whether that child had been purple," Lott said.

Tony Robinson Jr., who recorded the final moments, said it all began when the teacher asked the girl to hand over her phone during class. She refused, so he called an administrator, who summoned the officer.

"The administrator tried to get her to move and pleaded with her to get out of her seat," Robinson told WLTX. "She said she really hadn't done anything wrong. She said she took her phone out, but it was only for a quick second, you know, please, she was begging, apologetic."


"Next, the administrator called Deputy Fields in ... he asked, 'will you move,' and she said 'no, I haven't done anything wrong,' Robinson said.

"When I saw what was going to happen, my immediate first thing to think was, let me get this on camera. This was going to be something ... that everyone else needs to see, something that we can't just let this pass by."

Districts across the county put officers in schools after teenagers massacred fellow students at Columbine High School in Colorado in 1999. Schools now routinely summon police to discipline students, experts say.

"Kids are not criminals, by the way. When they won't get up, when they won't put up the phone, they're silly, disobedient kids — not criminals," said John Whitehead, founder of the Rutherford Institute, a nonprofit civil liberties and human rights organization.

Police should guard doors to "stop the crazies from getting in these schools," Whitehead said, but "when you have police in the schools, you're going to run into this — having police do what teachers and parents should do."


The National Association of School Resource Officers recommends that schools and police agree to prohibit officers "from becoming involved in formal school discipline situations that are the responsibility of school administrators."

The Rev. Jesse Jackson called the video a "national disgrace."

"This man should be arrested, charged, fired and sued," Jackson said on his way to Columbia. "The department should be sued."

Mayor Steve Benjamin also called for an independent investigation. School Superintendent Debbie Hamm said "the district will not tolerate any actions that jeopardize the safety of our students." School Board Chairman Jim Manning called the deputy's actions "shamefully shocking."

Fields has prevailed against accusations of excessive force and racial bias before.

Trial is set for January in the case of an expelled student who claims Fields targeted blacks and falsely accused him of being a gang member in 2013. In another case, a federal jury sided with Fields after a black couple accused him of excessive force and battery during a noise complaint arrest in 2005. A third lawsuit, dismissed in 2009, involved a woman who accused him of battery and violating her rights during a 2006 arrest.

Race doesn't exempt anyone from following the laws that apply to everyone.

blacks don't seem to understand that... but that cop was a d!ck... he should be fired

Agreed, in as much that some people should never be allowed in positions of authority.

Does the information in the link clearly detail what the hood booger's behaviour was, immediately before the cop did his thing?

Wouldn't put her phone away. Clearly a hardened criminal.

why was this a police matter?

should have been a warning system and a call to the parents,, written, verbal, and then expulsion

Why are teachers and administrators summoning school resource officers to do their job? Or did the student make a threatening remark? Point being, did the student break a law....or a school rule?

Got dang we agree!

the article i read yesterday said she was mouthing off.. the video just shows her sitting there, and the cop grabbing her and tossing her across the room...

Well the first reports I heard had the student being disruptive(texting)in class, and the teacher asked her several times to leave the classroom, and she ignored him.

The teacher then called in the vice-principal, who also asked the student several times to leave the class. She ignored him.

The vice-principal then called in the deputy who basically gave her the you can walk out or I can throw you out choice. She ignored him, and so she got tossed and tagged.

Is there a less violent way to extricate Princess Text from her seat? Sure. Is it MORE painful? You bet. Arm bars, wrist snaps, pull her outta the seat by her hair, all perfectly valid technical methods to move an unwilling participant. She would have screamed bloody blue murder and people would have been even more upset by the ensuing video.

I watched CNN this afternoon and the activist being interviewed was priceless. She admitted she did not know the details of the confrontation, and did not want to lay blame, but the cop was wrong she said. The girl did not commit a crime, and even if she did, the activist says she should have been arrested with dignity.

OMFG, so now, obstinate kids who defy authority are to be arrested in a dignified manner. Hilarious. Let's be clear here. Princess Text was not engaged in a Rosa Parks style moral crusade, ok. She was effing texting on her cell phone during class, and was asked to stop. When she didn't, she was asked to leave, and she didn't. When a more senior staff member asked her to leave she didn't, and at her own peril ignored the cop called to escort her from the room. She had PLENTY of chances to retain her dignity. Her freakin' attitude is what lands her in bracelets, not Deputy Dawg having a bad day.

Sorry, the kid is the master of her own fate on this one. Suck it up Buttercup and take your lumps. You want to fight the system, guess what? The system on occasion fights back.

*drops mic*

NAH, educators need to know sometimes kids wont listen, and have better processes in place than literally FLIPPING Them over the chair, let alone it shouldn't have been a police matter either

guess what?, kids can be disobedient we don't arrest them or flip and toss them around for it,,,

you don't put your hands on other peoples kids without their consent, except to keep them from hurting themselves or others,,,

she could easily have remained right there until the end of school, when she no doubt would have eventually left ,, and she could then have been stopped from coming back with notice to her parents,,,

Sorry, but you're wrong. Schools are just one of the places we learn to follow the rules, and respect our elders. She wasn't asked to do anything unreasonable except to follow the rules, and if she couldn't, to go somewhere else. She had plenty of opportunity to leave of her own volition.

So your solution is ignore the kid and teach the class? Ok. So what if she's jumping on the desk and singing to her iPod? She's kinda disturbing the class.Oh, how about she sparks up a fatty, or maybe just a regular cigarette. We just going to let her sit there?

Great. So tomorrow three kids in class decide to do the same thing, then five, then ten. Now, who runs the school again? The students or the administration?

Can't wait until she gets into the working world. "Excuse me Princess Text? Yeah the boss is in the meeting room with the client wondering when your presentation will start? Oh I see,you don't feel like giving it today? You'd rather watch You Tube cat videos? Sure. No problem."

Yeah, lemme call HR so I can get her mom's phone number to come to the office and pick her up!

Oh, how about when she becomes your care giver in the old folks home and doesn't feel like changing your diaper for a week? I'd have you call her parents, but they would likely be DEAD.

all irrelevant, since none of the above was the issue

the issue was she was sitting and TEXTING

she was disobedient when asked to give up the phone
she was disobedient when asked to leave

there is no disruption by leaving her in her seat to continue texting or whatever she is doing

there is also no disruption in calling her parent or guardian to the scene

by the time she becomes a caretaker, she can simply be FIRED as a consequence

fortunately, we cant FIRE kids, or shoot or taser or arrest them for mere disobedience

we have to find other ways,,,,

Actually the examples are completely relevant. They all speak to behavior that should not have been engaged in during class time like dancing on the desk, singing in math class, or smoking in a classroom.

When you allow one kid to thumb their nose at the teacher,and the vice-principal and suffer no immediate consequences, you will find the behavior emulated.

It makes no difference if you toss her out of school for 3 days LATER, the kids know that teacher and the vice principal have no final option to restore order NOW, if you leave the punishment until after school.

So, in my example, if she fails to do her presentation, she'll be fired right? The company and the client however still suffer because she even dared to contemplate this as acceptable behavior.

In the old folks home example? Sure. She would be reprimanded or fired. BUT you've been sitting in your own filth for a week. She chose to IGNORE her responsibilities.

As a student, that's to pay attention in class and try to learn something, not text during the lesson.

These are learned behaviors of kids attempting to test limits. We all did it. When we step over the line, we get punished. You lose a privilege, lose your allowance, get grounded, in some cases you get spanked or smacked around at home.

In her case, she tried to come off as a hard azz. The teacher was the authority figure, the vice principal was meant to be the coercive figure of authority. When the cop showed up in the room though she should have known the game was over. Instead, she pushed, and the system pushed back.

I'm sorry she had to learn a nasty lesson in the school having the 'nuclear option' at its disposal, but I have NO sympathy for the attitude that caused the confrontation.

every behavior isn't equal, so comparing a student sitting and being disobedient to one jumping around, or smoking, or other behaviors that pose potential harm to themselves or others is logically fallacious


no one suggested a kid be allowed to 'thumb' their nose, my suggestion was that there were OTHER more suitable consequences than flipping the kid over a chair and throwing them around,,,

the response they used is not one that 'restored order' as there is no way those students are likely to do much else but spend time calming down from the drama and chatting about what happened, it was anti productive and pointless,,,

in your example , she is fired, whatever the companies response they lose the same money for her behavior, so I don't know what that has to do with anything,, , they simply fire her and they would also have no right to FLIP HER OVER A CHAIR and throw her about,,,


you cant do anything about whats already been done, regardless of what that is,, all you can do is RESPOND to it and this was the wrong response,,,,


I don't know what 'attitude' caused the behavior, but the behavior is what should have been addressed and it was addressed in an antiproductive and potentially harmful manner,,,



as stated before, the most productive response would be to allow her that non harmful behavior for the remainder of the day( it would be less disruptive than calling in a cop to manhandle her)

after the day, they could visit it WITH her parents and suspend her,,,

that's not 'getting away' with anything,, and its not risking bodily harm on anyone, and its not disrupting the class,,,


but authority sometimes has an ego that has to prove its 'big and bad' rather than do whats going to be BEST in the situation,,,,

Well...
Unless the hood booger posed an actual, imminent threat, Barney Fife was in the wrong.

Barney Fife, needs to be removed from authority, surrender all weapons, and undergo intensive anger management therapy.

The disruptive hood booger, should have just been expelled from that class for a day or two.

I'm just going to respectfully disagree as we're obviously never going to see eye to eye on this.

What you see as the 'wrong' response I see as one predicated by the lack of desire the student shows in following the requests of those in authority. These were reasonable requests to leave the classroom area, and she was given numerous chances to comply. Just leave the room. Simple. Easy. Feel free to talk smack and even toss the finger as you go. Just go.

You want to spare the rod and spoil the child as it were. Fill your boots and raise your kids as you see fit. You can call it encouragement and support, and I can call it mollycoddling. It's all about perspective and life experience.

As someone who coached kids in baseball, softball, football and hockey for over a decade, I've seen all kinds of parenting styles. I have seen the overbearing parent who calls his six year old a 'loser' for a mistake that was unavoidable, and I've seen parents that hand a 16 year old kid a joint to smoke before a baseball game to 'calm him down'.

Loser dad? He and I had a serious chat about this being t-ball and NOT the World Series Game 7, so dial his volume down on his kid, and lighten up. Mr. and Mrs. Spliff? Sent the kid home before the game started. I can't let him go to the plate and try to avoid an 80 mph fastball headed for his face when he's high enough to go duck hunting with a rake.

The successful parents, and the talented kids who enjoyed the games? Their families had rules, set limits, had modest expectations of their children. The kids knew how far they could push things, AND more importantly they knew when they went over the line there would be consequences.

My players ALWAYS knew my rules (I had a handout), the parents ALWAYS knew my rules (they got a different handout) and depending on the level we played at, the players knew what was expected of them by way of practice and execution. I never yelled at one kid for a mistake on the field. I did yell at the kids however who didn't try.

lack of desire to consent is not an unusual moment for kids to have

those who cant find a better way to handle such a 'predicate' than throwing said kid around or calling someone else in to toss them around, should probably not be in the educational field,,,,

so now, what has been accomplished is to DISRUPT a room and possibly have the kid not only be not reprimanded but getting a win on the AUTHORITY through the legal system

their response was counter productive and not thought out at all

it was more of a disruption than the alleged disruption they were trying to avoid,,,

they may not have 'got' away with it in that moment, but they will be COMPENSATED for it in the long haul

the big picture is something adults have to think of before they let their immediate and temporary ego take over,,,

That right there makes me want to side with the police officer.
I feel sorry for the cop if Jesse Jackson is getting involved.

Other than that, you post cops in schools they essentially become prison guards. Why be surprised or outraged when they start acting like them. Plus, you can't be surprised or outraged when students start acting out like prisoners trying to assert their freedom and control in any small way they can.

If there's not already a bunch of this same crap happening wherever cops are posted to schools I'd be really surprised.

Officer is fired...news conference with sheriff is on now. Sheriff says officer was ok till he tossed student.....also says officer has had several complaints along with the already posted lawsuits.
Also basically just said school needs to handle school issues and the role of resource officers will be re-evaluated.