Video shows a police officer launching a student in South Carolina, requesting an inquiry

In another video, he can be heard saying to another student, “I’m going to put you in jail next.”

Lieutenant Curtis Wilson, the sheriff’s spokesman, said the girl and a male student were arrested after the confrontation, according to South Carolina’s The State newspaper. They were accused of disturbing the peace, and the girl was handed over to her parents’ custody, according to the WLTX television station. The confrontation generated outrage as the videos spread.

Victoria Middleton, executive director of the South Carolina branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, said: “There is no justification for treating such a child. Regardless of the motive for the officer’s actions, this blatant use of force – against young people sitting in his classrooms – is outrageous. The school must be a place to learn and grow, not a place to be brutalized. “

“We must act to address the criminalization of children in South Carolina, especially at school,” she added.

Fields officer joined the sheriff’s department in 2004 and became a school resource officer in 2008, according to a departmental newsletter last November, which also noted the receipt of the district’s “Culture of Excellence Award” school. In addition to Spring Valley High School, he was also assigned to Lonnie B. Nelson Elementary School, the newsletter said, “and proved to be an exceptional role model for the students he serves and protects.”

But two lawsuits filed in the federal court paint a different picture of the sheriff’s deputy.

The most recent, presented in November 2013 by a former Spring Valley student, Ashton Reese, accuses Officer Fields and the school district of violating his civil rights. Mr. Reese was kicked out in February 2013 for “illegal gang activity and assault and battery” meeting after an investigation by the police officer concluded that he had been involved in a fight behind a store near the school, according to the complaint filed with the Columbia division of the Federal District Court.

The suit said Officer Fields “unfairly and recklessly targets African-American students with allegations of gang membership and criminal gang activity.” The jury trial is scheduled to begin on January 27.

In 2007, Carlos Martin and his wife, Tashiana Martin, sued Officer Fields, Sheriff Lott and another deputy, Robert Clark, for violating their civil rights during a routine investigation of a noise complaint. Mr. Martin said in court documents that Officer Fields stopped him when he was getting out of the car at home and was annoyed when he called him a “guy”, despite Mr. Martin’s assurances that he did not intend to be disrespectful. Shortly thereafter, the policeman threw Mr. Martin on the floor, handcuffed and started kicking him, according to the complaint, which also said the policeman emptied a can of pepper spray that soaked Mr. Martin’s clothes.

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