AP
As federal authorities look into the case of a white deputy's violent arrest of a black high school student, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott says a decision could come Wednesday on whether to fire Senior Deputy Ben Fields over the incident, which was filmed by several students.
The sheriff is expected to announce the findings of his department's internal inquiry around noon ET Wednesday. We'll update this post with that news.
Fields was placed on unpaid leave after the incident, which was witnessed by a classroom of students Monday morning.
"I wanted to throw up, it makes you sick to your stomach," Lott said about his reaction to a video of the arrest, in which one of his officers flipped a young woman's desk backward before dragging her across the floor in a classroom. "You can't watch the video without having those feelings."
Lott says an internal affairs investigation into the incident at Spring Valley High School in Columbia, S.C., will focus on whether Fields, a school resource officer, followed departmental procedures and guidelines.
"Any possible criminal investigation will be handled by federal and state agencies," reports local WLTX TV. As we reported Tuesday, Lott requested an independent federal investigation soon after the incident made headlines; the U.S. Justice Department says it's opening a civil rights investigation.
More than a dozen parents and other residents spoke about the videotaped arrest at last night's regularly scheduled board meeting for Richland School District Two, which includes Spring Valley High.
"My son said to me, 'Dad, no white child would have been removed from Spring Valley like that,' " said Stephen Gilchrist, of the district's Black Parents Association, according to WIS-TV.
Another attendee, who acknowledged that she knows Fields and was surprised by the video, told the board, "That child in the classroom was given ample opportunity to comply," adding later, "She chose to be defiant."
The incident has put Fields in the spotlight, with many observers discussing possible motives for his behavior.
On Tuesday, Lott said that he's not analyzing the student's behavior — only his officer's response. He also said that he doubts whether race played a role in the incident, noting that Fields "has been dating an African-American woman for 'quite some time,' " as the AP reports.
The deputy has also faced lawsuits over his on-the-job conduct.
The State newspaper reports: "Fields has had three lawsuits filed against him as a deputy. In one, involving an excessive-force allegation before Fields worked in schools, a federal jury found in his favor. Another case was dismissed, the Associated Press reported. The third suit, which is ongoing, alleges Fields wrongly pushed for a Richland 2 student's expulsion."
I believe that Deputy Ben Fields is correct and wrong for many reasons. These days people are taking cops less and less serious and i think its time that they don't do anymore fooling around and if they believe they are in danger that they can do anything to protect themselves. I also think that the department should take serious consideration on what they should do with the deputy. If the girl was resisting i think he should be allowed to do what he needed but maybe in a less harmful way
ReplyDeleteThis deputy, Ben Fields, should be fired for the incident. Outbreaks like these are perfect examples of police brutality. If police departments want to change the way that we, as citizens, see them in every day life than officers like this need to be removed from their position. It seems strange that the debate over his dismissal from office is still present. The most obvious action to take is to fire Fields.
ReplyDeleteThis confuses me, why an officer who could easily have had an easy going day had to erupt a classroom with violence because she didn't want to comply. That's like saying every time you don't give your friend food they beat you up and take it, imagine if this was how it was all the time. There was no threats to the officer, the only threat in the room was that officer. I understand that this is just a small fraction of the police departments and a small fraction of officers who act out like this but it still makes me consider who we should choose for this job.
ReplyDeletethe police officer should not be fired for what he did. this might sound a little racist but the black community needs to stop thinking that all cops are arresting them and shooting them because of the color of their skin. the officer did what he felt was necessary and I will stand by him forever and ever.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the deputy should be arrested because it is so wrong to flip a chair with a girl in it. It was only because she was dark skinned. If it was a white girl then the deputy wouldn't have done anything. I think he was being racist and did it because she is black. Also if the girl was just doing something on her phone why doesn't the deputy just snag the phone from her.
ReplyDeleteThis is a horrible incident that should never occur. Deputy Ben Fields was wrong for attacking this girl, but the girl shouldn't have made him angry and she should have just did what he said. But Deputy Ben Fields should not have thrown her in her desk and dragged her across the floor, that was extremely unnecessary. I think that Deputy Ben Fields should be fired for this incident.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that this incident was a direct relation to the skin color of the girl. Every time you turn on the news there is some incident about a white police officer and a black victim. Not everything is about skin color. If this girl were white and the police officer was black there would be no complaints that this happened because the girl was white because "only black people experience discrimination now a days". However, I think both parties are wrong. The girl should have followed instructions and the officer should not have been so forceful to the girl when she didn't listen. I don't believe everything is a race issue and you can't distract from the incident and excuse your own wrong doings by bringing race into it. - Sabrina Shaw Per. 4
ReplyDelete"I don't think that this incident was a direct relation to the skin color of the girl. Every time you turn on the news there is some incident about a white police officer and a black victim." (Sabrina Shaw). Sabrina is so right! I agree with her 110%. Nowadays every single thing about police brutality, people assume is because of racism. Nobody would say anything about it if a black cop hurt a white kid. "only black people experience discrimination now a days". People can make bad decisions no matter what hue their skin color is! There are bad white kids just as much as bad black kids, however the officer should have handled it better.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI agree with Sabrina that it was wrong that a police officer did this to a student on campus. I think it is wrong because both of them should have acted differently because the girl should have listened to the police officer and the police officer shouldn't have been so brutal.- Brandon Marshall Period 4
DeleteParagraph 10 states "many observers discussing possible motives for his behavior" regardless of the situation the officer was wrong for the way that he decided to deal with the situation. To add, even if the the student was not listening there is not really a excuse for his actions. There should be consequences for the way he dealt with the situation.
ReplyDeleteZayne Per. 5
I agree with what you are saying the officer should not have flipped her out of her chair he should have stood her up and walked her out. If she was refusing he could have like i said stood her up she is a girl smaller than him you shouldn't have to flip her out of her chair. He should be punished for what he has done.
DeleteI think what the officer did to the girl was wrong. I don't see why the officer couldn't have just solved it in a more civiled mannered way. If she wasn't complying there are many more ways to deal with something like that then dragging her out of her desk and using violence. I think he was doing it for the wrong reasons which I don't know since I'm not him, but his actions show that his intentions were something totally different that what he thought he should do.
ReplyDeleteNo matter what was going on during this altercation the officer had no right to use force against this student. Watching the video makes you cringe and want to help the girl. Some are saying that this could have been a racists act, one student even says,"Dad, no white child would have been removed from Spring Valley like that." I don't know about the officers background,but I personally believe that he should fired immediately and then go to trial for assault.
ReplyDeleteNo matter what was going on during this altercation the officer had no right to use force against this student. Watching the video makes you cringe and want to help the girl. Some are saying that this could have been a racists act, one student even says,"Dad, no white child would have been removed from Spring Valley like that." I don't know about the officers background,but I personally believe that he should fired immediately and then go to trial for assault.
ReplyDeleteThis is a horrible action in so many ways. It was wrong of her not to listen to the officer, however, he had no right to drag her out of her desk and use violence instead of handling the situation in a professional manner. I believe he should be fired for his actions. I don't believe that this has anything to do with her race and I think it is slightly absurd that people are considering counting that as a motive because they shouldn't be focusing on why he did it. They should be focusing on firing him and punishing him for his actions.
ReplyDeleteI think that the officer was way out of line in how he acted and should be fired from his job. He should of known how to handle the situation in a more calmly matter without violence. I don't think that this situation has to do with race because "he also said that he doubts whether race played a role in the incident, noting that Fields "has been dating an African-American woman for 'quite some time," said Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott. This was a horrible incident and I think that they should really investigate it and fire him for his actions.
ReplyDeleteThe officer had no right to do this. He should get fired for his actions. Yes, the student did not listen when she was told to get up, but that didn't mean she had to get dragged out of her seat. A dad explained what his child said, "My son said to me, 'Dad, no white child would have been removed from Spring Valley like that,' " said Stephen (Gilchrist S.C. Sheriff Will Decide Deputy's Future With Department (NPR). This shows how the officer was being racist. An officer should not hurt anyone regarding their race.
ReplyDelete- Sheila Ordukhani per2
Sadly, police officers are very racist towards African Americans. There have been dozens of cases that involve police officers assaulting blacks for no reason; some even end up killed. In most of these instances, it is very obvious that police officers are still racist towards blacks and no changes are made to the police force. In the article titled, "S.C. Sheriff Will Decide Deputy's Future With Department," Stephen Gilchrist states, "My son said to me, 'Dad, no white child would have been removed from Spring Valley like that,' " (NPR pg. 8). It is sad to say that this little boy is right. Something needs to be done about the way police officers treat African Americans.
ReplyDeleteFaith Rosenberry
Period 6
Sadly, police officers are very racist towards African Americans. There have been dozens of cases that involve police officers assaulting blacks for no reason; some even end up killed. In most of these instances, it is very obvious that police officers are still racist towards blacks and no changes are made to the police force. In the article titled, "S.C. Sheriff Will Decide Deputy's Future With Department," Stephen Gilchrist states, "My son said to me, 'Dad, no white child would have been removed from Spring Valley like that,' " (NPR pg. 8). It is sad to say that this little boy is right. Something needs to be done about the way police officers treat African Americans.
ReplyDeleteFaith Rosenberry
Period 6
Bailey Wetzel/4th
ReplyDeleteI think that this incident has nothing to do with race, and more with the Feild's personal life. Another officer working with Feild thinks the same way, saying"he doubts whether race played a role in the incident, noting that Fields "has been dating an African-American woman for 'quite some time"". This may mean that Feild has had trouble with his date and the next day he connected his anger to someone he say similarities to. Still, this does not give officer Feild and excuse for the assult but it may provide some insight.
I watched the video to see how violent this act was, and I was appalled. This officer threw the student down as if she was attacking him; however, she sat in her desk normally. I wish this article talked about the reasons why she was being arrested and more exactly what happened in this situation, that way I could have a better understanding before I make my judgments. I agree with the kid who said: "''Dad, no white child would have been removed from Spring Valley like that'" (NPR). There is still some racial segregation in our nation that leads to unfair treatment, and I agree with the person who said that. I feel like the whole situation would have been different if a white girl was being arrested instead of a black one.
ReplyDelete--Marie Ong, Period 6
There are some cases of police brutality being concentrated more towards african americans, but that does not mean that every time a police officer is rough on an african american, it makes him racist. Now this does not mean that police brutality like this is acceptable, I'm just saying that we shouldn't always assume it is because of a race thing. According to one of the other officers, Fields "has been dating an African-American woman for quite some time" this shows that this act probably wasn't because of racism.
ReplyDeleteThe only cases they show on the internet and TV anymore are police brutality against African-Americans, but that does not mean that it's an act of racism all the time. The media is breeding hate and separation. They often victimize the person even if they were doing something wrong. Granted, the girl in this video was just being incredibly disruptive, and she didn't deserve to be thrown like that. They automatically play the race card and it's not acceptable. He has been dating an African-American woman for a while, so how would you possibly believe this was an act of racism. I actually did some reading on this a while ago. The student was being defiant and nobody knew what to do about it so they called in an officer. He had to get her out of that chair. However, he should not have thrown her like that. This was unneeded force and the man should be punished for it, but people need to learn that they can avoid all the trouble if they just comply with the teachers and the police. No, it's not always right. Sure, sometimes they can be so wrong, but you have to realize the system is not going to change. No matter what, you will always have to comply to authority. Even if the authority is wrong, just say Ok and move on. This really only applies to the little things though. Such as not being disruptive or getting a ticket. If you just listen, you can avoid trouble like this. It's not always right, but the world will never be a perfect Utopia. You have to accept that. If you don't, it's like punching a bear and wondering why it ate you.
ReplyDeleteThis incident was completely unnecessary and sickening. Also the fact that it was a black student makes it more appalling. I agree with the kid that said " no white child would have been removed from Spring Valley like that" (Gilchrist). South Carolina is known to be a racist state and people are still holding a grudge from the civil war. It makes me sick that a cop would do this to a kid. There is absolutely no reason for the violence that he used.
ReplyDeleteThe officer took the situation to a whole new level by using force on her and should never use his force towards her. Even though she is African American doesn't mean you can use force against her and treat her differently. He should treat her as if it were his child or someone he loves. He would not have used force, he would have used his words. "I wanted to throw up, it makes you sick to your stomach" These people that witnessed it were sick to their stomach that he did something this brutal to a kid and he should be fired. P.2
ReplyDeleteNo matter what was happening the the officer should have never used forced to solve the problem. I also believe the officer should be fired, only because the girl has different colored skin doesn't give him the right to use force. If it was a white girl he wouldn't have done anything. The people that witnessed the incident were sick to there stomachs and probably believe The officer should be fired. This is only going to lead to protest and cause even more problems. Hopefully they can solve and fix the problem and bring everything back to normal.
ReplyDeleteChristian Hudson
Period 2
I believe that this officer should not be an police officer let alone not in jail. The actions acted upon that little girl are rude, cruel, and unusual. No child should be treated like that let alone by a police officer. This police officer in particular has seemed to get into quite a bit of trouble as well, but I am wondering why people have no been more aware and reactive towards his behavior. "Fields has had three lawsuits filed against him as a deputy..." (The State's News Report), not only is this man dangerous but he is an officer of the law which makes no sense to me why he should be "protecting others". -Ryan Brown Period 2
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI believe that policeman should have never been so violent with that student. No matter how she was behaving, she did not deserve to be treated like that in any way. No one does. I think that policeman is miss using his power over the student, and it seems that he has a problem miss using his power over many other people too: "'Fields has had three lawsuits filed against him as a deputy. In one, involving an excessive-force allegation before Fields worked in schools, a federal jury found in his favor...The third suit, which is ongoing, alleges Fields wrongly pushed for a Richland 2 student's expulsion'"(NPR). There were many other ways that Fields could have handled that situation, and that was not a good way to do it. He was way too violent with that girl, and could have seriously injured her. I don't believe that he did it because she was African American, I think he just let himself get out of hand. I also think he should be punished, and should next time think about what he is doing before he acts.
ReplyDeleteRenee Gibson, period 2
I believe that the policeman should not have been so violent with that student. Although the girl could have been cooperative and listened to the instructions that were given to her, he didn't really have the right to be so violent. In last paragraph it states, "Fields has had three lawsuits filed against him as a deputy. In one, involving an excessive-force allegation before Fields worked in schools, a federal jury found in his behavior." The officer should be punished for his actions and think before he acts.
ReplyDeleteThe police was way too violent with the girl. She may have been behaving wrong but that does not give him not right to attack the girl like he did. He could of handled the situation numerous of way that were not so violent. I believe he should be fired from his job or at least suspended. Just because he is a police doesn't mean he should of ripped her out of he seat like that.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that the police shouldn't have been that violent. He should have asked her to talk outside or something else other than throwing her. Although the girl must have been doing something very bad. "My son said to me, 'Dad, no white child would have been removed from Spring Valley like that" I believe it could have happened to anyone not just black people. If a white person was acting the same way, he would have done the same thing.
ReplyDeleteThat poor girl was treated very poorly. The police officer took it way to far and they should of tried other ways to get her out of the classroom. The way they choose was uncalled for. The girl wasn't perfect either she should of listened and this wouldn't of happened. But i am on her side because the police officer resolved the conlfict in the wrong way like, "one of his officers flipped a young woman's desk backward before dragging her across the floor in a classroom. "(The State's News Report). Maggie Couch Per.4
ReplyDeleteThe police officer should not be fired for what he did. I have no intentions to be racist but also a lot of community's have gone though this kind of stuff. I would say the community brings it among themselves. So I believe the cop should have a second chance.
ReplyDeleteI feel little to no sympathy for this girl,she put herself in this situation, according to our local news, she got her legs caught up in the desk which caused it to flip over, I don't agree with people saying this is a sign of police brutality, this is not even close. School is a learning facility, and I apologize if no one agrees with me, but this is absolutely ridiculous and I don't believe that this should have been as popular and spread over the social media that fast. The officer was just doing his job, he obviously work at the school to work with troubled kids, and he is also law enforcement, which some kids take for granted, my only question is if police brutality is so large, what is the cause, what do the people do to antagonize the cops. I believe that cops are guys doing hard jobs, and before people go out yelling that they hate cops, and police brutality they should think before they say things. I do believe however there are good cops, and bad cops. Although this girl looks abused by the cops she really isn't, like I said before, which actually answers my question about police brutality and the antagonists, this young girl was saying "No" and stuff like "I am not going to leave" after she got asked to put her phone away. I believe that phones are okay to use in school as long as teachers give the okay to have their phones out class or get instructed to should be the only time phones are out, besides break time. After this young lady, got asked to put her phone away numerous amounts of time, and if she can't follow the rules, or go with them, its the same here at oak ridge, you will get removed.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that the officer should be fired. The student was given many chances to follow the rules but she never listened which caused it to be brought down to the point where she had to be thrown out of her chair. Maybe there was other ways to handle it but it is definitely necessary that the student faces punishment. I don't believe that her skin color plays any role in this. She brought it upon herself, if she would've listened the first time it would've never gotten so violent. He was just doing his job.
ReplyDeleteAubrey Koenigs
Period 6
The police officer should not have treated the student that way. No matter how she was acting or behaving, he should not have acted out in such a physical way. In this case, he seems to be abusing his power, but according to other sources, "Fields has had three lawsuits filed against him as a deputy..." (The State's News Report). There were many other different ways that he could have handled the situation instead of being violent with her. I believe that he should be punished in some way, but not fired. He should think about his actions next time before acting in such a violent way.
ReplyDeleteI do not think the officer should have done that to the young student. Yes she wasn't being cooperative with him but it doesn't mean he should tackle her to the ground after flipping her seat over. I believe he should be fired for his actions. So far this officer Ben Fields already has three law suits from previous times and that should be enough.
ReplyDeleteI think that the officer should be fired for his actions. Even though the student may have been uncooperative at first, in no way does that mean she deserved to be thrown out of a desk. Nobody should have been treated with such violence in this situation. The officer clearly misused his power because there is no reason why he needed to be so violent, especially with a child. It is the police's job to keep people safe, but once unnecessary actions are taken like this, people don't feel protected anymore; they feel attacked. The concept that actions speak louder than words is important to understand.
ReplyDeleteHannah Miller, p2
The officer should not have removed the student from such force. But on the other hand when Stephen Gilchrist spoke, "My son said to me, 'dad, no white child would have been removed from Spring Valley like that,' ". This is showing the racism part because if it was an African American police officer, the charges will most likely be less or none. Even though what the officer did was wrong, should not have acted that way. We showed also think about how convenient people are arguing about this with the different racism parts.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, I don't agree with this article. The videos filmed, made the situation make much more violent than it is. I do not agree that "Fields [should have been] placed on unpaid leave after the incident" because according to local news, the girl got her foot stuck in he desk. The girl was also given many chances to listen but never cooperated with her teacher, the vice principle, or the police officer. The video made the situation look much worse than I believe it is. I think the girl should be punished for not listening one but three times by three different people. On local news, newscaster explained that the girls foot caught in the desk and the police officer didn't in fact "[flip] a young woman's desk backward before dragging her across the floor in a classroom". I don't think situation should be so involved with the police officer but with the girl who didn't cooperate with three authorities.
ReplyDeleteThe part of this story that intrigues me the most is the fact that we live in a time where the police needed to be called in to remove a student from their desk. The student has to have been so disrespectful that they needed to call the police in the first place. Also, the student wouldn't leave the desk after being aced multiple times to get out. If this incident was 30 years ago, the child would be at fault for being such a disrespectful punk toward authority. But now, the kid's family can get the officer fired and get rich because their child was raised improperly? It doesn't make sense.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the article about the aggressive resource officer in South Carolina, I was at first shocked by the story. However, after reading further, I began to understand what the situation was really about. I believe the resource officer was called in for too little of a situation and did what he was hired to do. In contradiction to that, I also believe that he was very much overaggressive with the student and deserved to be fired for his actions. All in all, if the staff hadn't called in a Deputy Police Officer to get a measly job done, there would be no story; and they should not have called this man in to take a phone from an immature teenager.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading I am surprised on how much this article focused on it possibly being a race issue. It opens with "a white deputy's violent arrest of a black high school student" (NPR). The document barely stats that the officer even has a relationship with someone of a different ethnicity, but jumps at the chance to grab the audiences attention to make it a race issue . I do not think the officer acted in a justifiable manner and probably over reacted. It was overaggressive but it was probably not because of race that caused him to act the way he did.
ReplyDeleteI believe that there are two very different sides to the story. That of the police and the school and that of the student and really anybody else who sees this story. To anybody, including myself, this story seems like a disgusting act of abuse from a police officer towards a student, a young girl, who allegedly was not listening and following the orders and requests given by the teacher. But to the school and police officer they may have seen this act of violence as justified because she was being extremely disrespectful towards all authority. I believe that the police officer should have better handled the situation instead of just throwing her across the room and beating her.
ReplyDeleteSarah Moghaddam period 1
I believe that there are two sides to the story. I do not think that the officer should be fired. But I also think that he could have handled the situation in a different and better way. I do not think that the officer acted this way just because she was black and he was white. The point is, I do not think the officer should be fired but should have handled the situation differently.
ReplyDeleteKyle Brown P5
I feel that this has two sides to it. First the police men should not have done that to the young female student. It was very wrong and inappropriate. He could have handled the situation much easier.With that in mind, i do not believe that police me should be fired. This girl had plenty of opportunities to listen to the police men, but she chose not to. If she just would have listened, then this would have gone a lot differently and more smoothly. I could see that just looking at this for the first time, someone might think that this cop is insane for doing something like that, or the girl is crazy for not listening to a man in such authority, but I think they are technically both in the wrong. If they both would have done, essentially, the "right" things, this would not be all over the news.
ReplyDeleteAdrianne Mahlman Period 6
I personally believe that the arrest by Deputy Ben Fields, was far too violent and completely unnecessary. It is true " 'the girl chose to be defiant'" (NPR) and disrespect the officer. However, she never once threatened to inflict brutality upon Deputy Fields, and his reaction to the uncooperative teenager was nothing short of over the top. In all honestly, I believe that both sides need to be taken seriously. Cops must be respected more, however, if they continue to take part in unnecessary police brutality, they will lose all credibility. One other major issue that ties along with police brutality, is the racial conflicts between White police officers African-American suspects. Many accounts have been recorded in which the suspects have been falsely accused and mercilessly detained, some of which, resulted in casualties. It is time that we, as a nation put an end to the superiority of the police officer, instead of instilling them with the more power. Or else we will continue to see the same results. -Sydney Crozier Period 2
ReplyDeleteI think the police officer is definitely at fault for this. I'm not sure how bad her offence was, but it probably was not bad enough for her to be flipped over in her desk, thrown across the room, and arrested. I do agree that she should have listened to the officer, but I also think that his response was way over the top. There was probably a much better way to compromise and solve their issue so that no one had to be physically hurt or arrested.
ReplyDeleteI think it was equally the police officers fault and the students fault. The student shouldn't have gone so far to disobey the officer where it puts him in the position to do that. Also though the police officer should have done something smarter then to use that much violence on her. In the article, it says "The State newspaper reports: "Fields has had three lawsuits filed against him as a deputy""(NPR) I think that the police force should fire him based on his actions taken against the student and on his past record of lawsuits.
ReplyDeleteAlena Romero Period 5
The officer I believe should probably not be an officer anymore. The actions inflicted to the girl are completely wrong even though she was defiant and disrespectful to the officer. But we also need to realize that people should not be disrespecting officers and being defiant of what actions are being told.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Deputy Ben Fields did what he was suppose to do. I don't think that the officer should be fired, because he was doing his job. However I agree that what he did was a little violent but if the student would just listen to him the officer wouldn't have to do that. Another thing that I don't agree with is the fact that everyone think that the officer was being racist. To me I just don't think that's true because he was dating an African American women for a while, so I don't think he was meant to be racist.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this comment. I believe that the officer was doing his job. I also believe he was more violent then he needed to be. I don't think this was an act of racism. I truly think that he was doing his job and it got more violent then intended, but I don't agree that this was an act of racism. An attendee told the news report, "The child in the classroom was given ample opportunity," she later added, "she chose to be defiant.". The officer has also been dating an African American woman for a long time, I think that shows he didn't intend for the act to be racist.
DeleteAnnalise Hite per. 6
The officer who did this needs to be punished in some sort of way, he made the situation hostile and had unnecessary violence involved. "I wanted to throw up, it makes you sick to your stomach," his own superior officer said how bad it was, if your own sheriff, your boss doesn't back you up, then something needs to be done.
ReplyDeletePolice brutality is a huge problem in today's society and this just supports the claim. That officer should never have used violence to solve the problem. The officer should be punished somehow for the crime he committed. "I wanted to throw up, it makes you sick to your stomach," said a fellow officer who also agrees that what he did was a terrible act and says shouldn't be done. There is no excuse for unauthorized violence especially from a high authority figure such as a cop.
ReplyDelete-Rhys Kennedy Per. 6
In america today police brutality is a huge issue, and lots of it has to do with race. In this particular story, after the African American student refused to leave the classroom the police officer was unbelievably rough as he forced her out of the classroom., ""I wanted to throw up, it makes you sick to your stomach," (Leon Lott). As more and more stories come up of police brutality, something has to be done.
ReplyDeleteTruman Andrus, period 6
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletePolice brutality is getting out of hand. For a girl to be ripped out of her seat like that is unnecessary. "My son said to me, 'Dad, no white child would have been removed from Spring Valley like that,' " said Stephen Gilchrist. This shows that there is unnecessary force being used on colored individuals than white people. This is not only police brutality, it is racism.
ReplyDeleteThough i strongly believe that the police officer is wrong and should face punishment, it is stated that "that child in the classroom was given ample opportunity to comply," so she was disobeying the law and received punishment that was way too harsh. I do not believe that the police officer should be placed in jail, but i do believe the police officer should be punished in his job, even fired. I also believe that the parents of the child should sue the officer and take advantage of their right to do so when the law has been unfair to their child.
ReplyDeleteThe worst part about this whole incident is how the officer reacted and handled the situation. He used force and was not being a piece officer. He should have handled the situation better and this case has not gone the the officers way because of the other laws suits against him. He has had three other law suits and one is still currently still ongoing about wrongly pushing 2 students expulsions. This officer has dug himself a hole, tried to get out, couldn't, then started to dig more.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the article, I watched the video of the incident. My reaction was the same reaction as Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott when he said "I wanted to throw up, it makes you sick to your stomach," (Leon Lott). I understand if the student wasn't cooperating with him and he has to use force, but this was too much force to the point it turned into violence. Although Stephen Gilchrist said "My son said to me, 'Dad, no white child would have been removed from Spring Valley like that," (Stephen Gilchrist). I would have to disagree with his statement, I don't think Lean Lott's action was towards the student's skin color, I think it was the student being a bit stubborn and won't cooperate with him, after all that is what a cops do. Overall I honestly don't think he deserved three lawsuits, in my opinion a suitable punishment for him is to be fired.
ReplyDelete-Tyra Cardenas 5th period
"...in which one of his officers flipped a young woman's desk backward before dragging her across the floor in a classroom." I am utterly shocked at this. Policemen are supposed to protect citizens, even if they have done something wrong. Though she was being defiant, a policeman should not have flipped her out of the desk. I'm not sure if this is a matter of race, we'd have to look at the policemans background. All I know is, is that his actions where wrong and he should be punished for his use of power.
ReplyDeleteI am mortified of the behaviors that this officer chose to pursue on the African-American student. Although this issue may have not directly correlated with the young ladies' race I do believe that he would not have reacted the same way to a Caucasian. Lately racism has been prevalent within the police force and increasingly becoming more violent. It may be true that the student's race did not affect the officer's actions but with the recent violent behaviors toward African-Americans I believe it did. "...in which one of his officers flipped a young woman's desk backward before dragging her across the floor in a classroom." It is true that
ReplyDelete"'the girl chose to be defiant'" (NPR) but he could have handled it in a more professional manner than flipping the desk while she was sitting in it. I do believe that this action towards any human should be punished or at least legally looked into. Gabi LaBeaux p.6
That video that multiple student took is a terrible thing to see. No one should treat a human being like that, and a officer should know best. Even though the student didn't follow the orders of the officer he should of handled the situation much more appropriate. One student in the room said "Dad, no white child would have been removed from Spring Valley like that"(lines 44-46). This story shows a major racist problem as well. Just because the student was African american, she was treated in a less respectful way then a white student would have. No one should have to go through that kind of torment. That officer does not deserve his job and should be punished for what he has done.
ReplyDeleteThe video has shown evidence that the minor has shown defiance to the officers orders but, the way the officer took the situation and the way he acted was not acceptable.When a Student says "Dad, no white child would have been removed from Spring Valley like that"(lines 44-46) it makes the matter worse because people already think this is a race situation in which it isn't. Nowadays people think that if a black man is arrested by a white officer they think its racist but, if a white man gets arrested by a black officer it doesn't have such an uproar. When the officer had took his actions yes they were violent but try too look at it through his eyes, maybe she had said something more that what was told or maybe not we wont truly know. Had it been a white woman I believe the officer would of been nicer to the young woman but it wasn't. The officer should not lose his job but he should be retrained about human rights and should take a leave for a few weeks to retrain himself in order to be a better officer than what people look at him now.
ReplyDelete