COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – The Justice Department opened an investigation Tuesday into whether a deputy who arrested a student for refusing to leave her math class violated the girl’s civil rights by flipping her backward in 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, South Carolina, “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.