Police are investigating an incident at a school in South Carolina that was captured on video and appears to show a school police officer slamming a student to the floor and dragging her from the classroom
Spring Valley High School officials and Richland County sheriff's deputies are investigating after a video supposedly taken at the high school shows a confrontation between a female student and the school's resource officer.
Local media said officials at the school in Columbia, confirmed that the the incident happened on Monday, but stopped short of releasing further details.
The video appears to show the officer approaching the girl sitting at a desk in a classroom. The officer the grabs the girl's arm while putting his own arm around the student's neck, WISTV reported.
A struggle ensues, and the girl falls on the floor before being dragged away and out of the view of the camera. The school did not immediately respond to inquiries.
Police said the school resource officer - a police official assigned to schools to provide security - had become involved after the student was asked to leave the classroom because she was being disrupted. She refused to do so and was then placed under arrest for refusing to leave the class.
But parents of students at Spring Valley High School have already reacting to the video. In a statement, a group calling themselves the Richland Two Black Parents Association called the video "egregious" and "unacceptable."
"Parents are heartbroken as this is just another example of the intolerance that continues to be of issue in Richland School District Two particularly with families and children of colour," the statement said.
"As we have stated in the past, we stand ready to work in collaboration to address these horrible acts of violence and inequities among our children”.
In a statement read to The Independent, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said: "We are aware of this incident. We are looking into it."
