Assault at Spring Valley High sparks outrage

Ben+Fields%2C+a+resource+officer+at+Spring+Valley+High+School+in+South+Carolina%2C+was+caught+assaulting+a+student+on+camera.+Not+a+body+camera%2C+like+the+one+pictured+above%2C+but+a+student%E2%80%99s+phone.+Fields+has+been+fired.+

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Ben Fields, a resource officer at Spring Valley High School in South Carolina, was caught assaulting a student on camera. Not a body camera, like the one pictured above, but a student’s phone. Fields has been fired.

A video filmed by a high school student was posted on social media, capturing a school resource officer at Spring Valley High School in Columbia, South Carolina assaulting a teenage girl.

The security guard, Ben Fields, is seen pulling a chair out from under the teen girl, slamming her to the ground, and then tossing her several feet away.

CNN reports that Fields is fired, but he was first suspended without pay. He has not been charged.

Sophomore Katie Wenzel said, “He hit a female. If a regular guy gets charged with hitting a girl, then a cop should too.”

Two students, on the other hand, have been arrested.

The student who was slammed to the ground was arrested on “disturbing school.” Another student, Niya Kenny, was also arrested for the same reason.

Kenny said to CNN, “When he came in the classroom, I immediately told my classmates, ‘Get your phones out, get your phones out. I think this is going to go downhill.’ And it did.”

Fields had been known for dealing roughly with students.

He had been called in since the student who was seen being assaulted in the video, refused to put her cell phone away.

When he put his hands on her at first, she hits him in the face, sparking Fields’ reaction of flipping her desk and tossing her several feet forward.

Wenzel said, “It was really dumb. She probably didn’t deserve that. Nobody deserves that.”

The FBI and U.S. attorney’s office have opened an investigation to see if federal laws were violated during the student’s arrest.