FBI opens civil rights probe of officer slamming girl in classroom

JUST IN: DOJ opens investigation into video of school resource officer grabbing student: https://t.co/wIGvhqXFjS https://t.co/PodRBDVFBr

— ABC News (@ABC) October 27, 2015

The Department of Justice has opened a civil rights investigation into video of a South Carolina police officer slamming down a student in Columbia, S.C.

Ben Fields, a school resource officer and sheriff’s deputy, was placed on leave after he confronted a female student who would not leave her classroom at Spring Valley High School, according to WLTX. Other students caught the incident on video.

{mosads}”The Columbia FBI Field Office, the Civil Rights Division, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina have opened a civil rights investigation into the circumstances surrounding the arrest of a student at Spring Valley High School,” the Justice Department said in a statement.

“The FBI will collect all available facts and evidence in order to determine whether a federal law was violated.”

Video footage shows the officer approaching the student at her desk and asking her to “just stand up.” The officer grabbed the student, and flipped the girl and her desk on the floor, then dragged the student from her desk. The video then shows the officer pinning the student to the ground and telling her to put her hands behind her back. 

“The student was told she was under arrest for disturbing school and given instructions which she again refused,” Sheriff Leon Lott told local station WIS-TV on Monday. “The video then shows the student resisting and being arrested by the SRO.”

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the officer’s actions were “unacceptable.” 

“There is no excuse for violence inside a school,” the Democratic presidential candidate tweeted. “Schools should be safe places.”

There is no excuse for violence inside a school. The #AssaultAtSpringValleyHigh is unacceptable—schools should be safe places. -H

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 27, 2015