A viral video showing a football coach forcefully dragging a Black student at a South Carolina high school to the ground has rocked a community that is now demanding answers.
In the video, Deputy Ben Fields, who is also a police officer who patrols Spring Valley High School in Rockland County, is seen approaching the student, whose name is unidentified. He then grabs the student by the shoulder and neck and violently pulls her from her desk. Her chair topples over as he throws her across the room, kneels on top of her and handcuffs her.
According to a sheriff in the town, the girl was arrested for refusing to leave class after causing a disturbance. But parents at the school have called Fields’ actions “unacceptable” and are demanding justice.
“Parents are heartbroken as this is just another example of the intolerance that continues to be of issue in the Richland School District Two, particularly with families and children of color,” representatives from the Richland Two Black Parents Association said. “As we have stated in the past, we stand ready to work in collaboration to address these horrible acts of violence and inequities among our children.”
The school district and the sheriff’s department investigated the incident and found Fields to be in the wrong. He has since been fired.
“He’s sorry that this whole thing occurred,” Sheriff Leon Lott of Richland County told The New York Times. “It was not his intent. His intent was not to do anything that brought discredit on this Sheriff’s Department or him or that school. He tried to do his job, and that’s what he feels like he did. He tried to do his job, and it happened very quickly.”
Debbie Hamm, the superintendent of the school district also released a statement stating that she will work with educators and police officers to better handle issues like these in the future.
“We know important work is ahead of us as we thoughtfully and carefully review the decision-making progress that may lead to a school resource officer taking the lead in handling a student disruption,” Hamm said. “Conversations that have already started will continue around how we work with the sheriff’s department on improvement and coordination of our work as educators and their work as law enforcement officers.”
