School Police Officer Assaults 15-Year-Old Black Female Student in Classroom

On the morning of Oct. 26, a student at Spring Valley High School in South Carolina was flipped out of her desk and tossed across the room by school resource officer Ben Fields.

Students in the class say Fields was called after the girl, whose name has not been released, was using her phone in class and refused to hand it over to teachers and administrators.

Watch the video below. Trigger warning (assault).

The full video of the Spring Valley High School Police Officer brutally assaulting a peaceful student. pic.twitter.com/oHIS8GrtSS

— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) October 26, 2015

Fields is already facing an outstanding lawsuit filed against him for "recklessly targeting African-American students with allegations of gang membership." In 2014, however, Fields received a "Culture of Excellence" award for being "an exceptional role model to the students he serves and protects." He has now been placed on administrative leave by the Sherriff's Department.

On Twitter, students of Spring Valley also say Fields had a history of aggression toward students:

Yes, Deputy Fields has done this numerous times. But this is the first time I've seen it captured on video and shared like this.

— ANM.❤️ (@FakeAsian__) October 26, 2015

Deputy Fields has a history of being aggressive with students. How do you all plan to fix this? @RichlandTwo https://t.co/khbMMr481f

— St.Cloud (@_marystcloud) October 26, 2015

One student who was sitting in the classroom during the incident said the girl who was thrown rarely spoke up in class:

The girl in the video was new to our class, and she was quiet like she never talked to anyone

— Aaron Johnson (@Aaron___J) October 26, 2015

The student who videotaped the incident, Tony Robinson Jr., described what he saw to local news station WLTX. 

"He asked her again, 'Will you move, will you move.' She said, 'No, I have not done anything wrong.' Then he said, 'I'm going to treat you fairly.' And she said, 'I don't even know who you are.' And that is where it started right there," Robinson said.

"I've never seen anything so nasty looking, so sick to the point that you know, other students are turning away, don't know what to do, and are just scared for their lives."

Read more here.