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 Officer Ben Fields, 34, was suspended without pay after videos
filmed by students showed him flipping an 18-year-old girl out of
her chair and dragging her across a classroom for refusing a
teacher's demand to put away her cell phone.
The arrest at Spring Valley High School in Columbia on Monday drew
swift condemnation on social media after the footage went viral and
raised concerns over whether the use of police in schools can
criminalize behavior once handled by educators.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Justice Department launched
a civil rights probe to determine if federal laws were broken, as
the president of the South Carolina chapter of the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People called for Fields
to be charged with assault.
The incident comes at a time of heightened scrutiny of the use of
force by police, particularly against minorities. Richland County
Sheriff Leon Lott said he did not know if race was a factor in the
case.
The student, who was not identified, was not injured, he said. A
third video that emerged on Tuesday showed her striking Fields after
he put her in a head lock, Lott said.
The student "bears some responsibility. It started with her," Lott
said.
However, the sheriff described the arrest footage as disturbing and
said the internal police investigation should conclude within the
next day because "the facts pretty much speak for themselves."
A hashtag #AssaultAtSpringValleyHigh trended nationwide within hours
of the student's arrest, which also garnered attention on Tuesday
from Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
"There is no excuse for violence inside a school," Clinton tweeted.
OFFICER NAMED IN PREVIOUS LAWSUITS
Fields, who did not reply to an email request for comment, joined
the sheriff's office in 2004 and its school resource officer program
in 2008, according to an agency newsletter. Last November, an
elementary school where he is also assigned presented him with a
"Culture of Excellence Award."
Fields "has proven to be an exceptional role model to the students
he serves and protects," the newsletter said.
He was also one of the coaches for the high school football team.
 Court records show Fields has been named as a defendant in two
federal lawsuits, most recently in 2013 in a case that claims he
"unfairly and recklessly targets African-American students with
allegations of gang membership and criminal gang activity." A jury
trial is set for Jan. 27 in Columbia.
In a 2007 case, a jury decided in favor of Fields and another deputy
accused by a Columbia couple of unreasonable and excessive force
during an investigation of a noise complaint.
HISTORY OF RACIAL TENSION IN SCHOOL DISTRICT
Fields was called to a classroom on Monday to remove a student who
refused a teacher's commands to hand over her cell phone.
One of the pupils who videotaped the arrest told local news station
WLTX that things quickly turned physical when the student also
refused Fields' request to move from her seat.
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A video shows Fields approaching the sitting girl, wrapping his arm
under her chin and flipping her desk with her in it.
Fields then drags her from the chair and tosses her on the floor, as
students look on, before handcuffing her.
"It was definitely a scary experience," the student witness, Tony
Robinson Jr., told WLTX.
The girl, who did not appear to resist or argue in earlier videos,
was arrested for "disturbing school" and released to her family,
sheriff's Lieutenant Curtis Wilson said.
Niya Kenny, 18, who was taken into custody after the incident on a
charge of disturbing schools, told NBC TV's Chris Hayes on Tuesday
she felt she needed to stand behind her classmate, even if it meant
her arrest.
"Before he (the officer) came to the class I was actually telling
them (other students): 'Take out your cameras because I feel like
this is going to go downhill.'"
A founding member of the Richland Two Black Parents Association said
the group was saddened but not surprised by the encounter in a
school district that in the past two decades has transformed from
being predominantly white to majority black.
The parents association, which has 5,700 members after being formed
a year ago, has called for a Justice Department probe into what it
says are long-standing discriminatory practices by the school
district, said Stephen Gilchrist, who has one son who graduated from
Spring Valley High and another attending now.
Gilchrist said the district has a legacy of expelling and suspending
large numbers of African-American students, who make up nearly 59
percent of the district's 27,500 pupils.
A school official said the district has made strides toward
improving racial disparities that trouble schools nationwide.
"We don't want this to be about just this officer," Gilchrist said.
"There is much more going on that has helped create a culture of
discrimination within this district."
(Additional reporting by Harriet McLeod in Charleston, South
Carolina; Suzannah Gonzales in New York and Letitia Stein in Tampa;
Writing by Colleen Jenkins; Editing by James Dalgleish and Paul
Tait)
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