Students protest firing of officer who flipped student out of desk
Not all Spring Valley聽students聽were happy to see Ben Fields, the white聽police officer聽caught on video flipping a black female student out of her desk and then throwing her across the room, lose his job.聽
Around 10 o'clock on Friday morning, a group of students,聽, walked out their of classes Spring Valley High School of Columbia, S.C., wearing handwritten T-shirts reading "Free Fields" or "#BringBackFields,鈥� posting images of their protest to social media. 聽
These 100 or so students, out of 2,059 in total,聽left their respective classes to meet in the school鈥檚 atrium.聽Some told WLTX-TV that they had originally intended to exit the building.
鈥淲e just want to show that we鈥檙e still supporting him and everything and that he鈥檚 still a good guy, and everything and we don鈥檛 want his reputation to be ruined because of something that happened on Monday,鈥� one of the demonstrators told WTLX.
According to student recordings of the event, they were eventually addressed by principal Jeff Temoney. He said no one will be suspended for participating in the walkout and dismissed them back to class.
"We've heard your voices, okay," Mr. Temoney said. "We appreciate you taking time to do this, but again, as you know, we always focus on teaching and learning, so let's head on back to class."
In a letter sent home to parents, he reiterated that the school understands the students鈥� desire to express their beliefs. District officials told Live-5 News that the demonstration was
Deputy Ben Fields had been a school resource officer assigned to Spring Valley聽for seven years. He also served as an assistant football coach.
He was fired Wednesday from the Richland County Sheriff's Department聽for excessive use of force. The student, who was allegedly disturbing class, was asked to leave by a teacher and then by a school administrator, before they called Fields to the scene, say reports. When the girl refused to leave the room once again, Fields can be seen in multiple cell phone videos wrapping his arms around her neck and flipping her backwards before tossing her across the floor.
The Justice Department鈥檚 office of civil rights, the FBI, and the U.S. Attorney鈥檚 office in Columbia, S.C. are all investigating the case.
鈥淗e was wrong in his actions and it was not what I expect of my deputies,鈥� Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said. 鈥淒eputy Fields did not follow proper training or procedures when he threw the student across the room. It continues to upset me that he picked the student up and threw her.鈥�
Senior John Cassibry, who participated in Friday鈥檚 protest and posted a video of Principal Temoney鈥檚 address on Twitter, said that though he thought Fields鈥檚 conduct was inappropriate, he should .
"I believe it is important as a student to voice my opinion," he told the Huffington Post. "My belief on Deputy Fields is just that 鈥� I do believe he was too aggressive, but I do not believe it was any circumstance to lose his job, nor do I believe it was race-driven."
He said the majority of the demonstrators Friday were black.
