Columbia, SC – School Officer Tossing Student In Classroom Had Prior Lawsuits Accusing Him Of Targeting Blacks

Columbia, SC – The South Carolina school resource officer seen on video pulling a female high school student from her desk and dragging her across a classroom has previously been sued and accused of excessive force and targeting black suspects.

In 2013, a student expelled from Spring Valley High School, where Senior Deputy Ben Fields works, accused the deputy, who is white, of targeting black students after saying the expelled student was a gang member. That case is set to go to trial in January.

In 2010, federal court records show a jury sided with Fields after a black couple accused Fields of excessive force and battery during a 2005 noise complaint arrest in Columbia.

On Monday, Fields was seen on video pulling a black female student from her desk during class. Fields has been put on leave, and the sheriff has asked federal authorities to investigate. Authorities say race did not play a role in the incident.

In a third lawsuit, a woman who reported suspicion of child abuse accused Fields and another deputy of battery and violating her rights during a 2006 arrest. That case was dismissed in 2009.

A student who says he took video says the confrontation started when the girl took her phone out.

Tony Robinson Jr. told WLTX-TV that at administrator was called to the room about 10:30 a.m. Monday and pleaded with the girl to get out of her seat. She refused.

Robinson says the school resource officer, identified as Ben Fields, came into the classroom, shut the girl’s computer and moved it to another desk. Robinson says he thought something was amiss and pulled out his phone and started recording.

The officer asked the female student to move and she says she hasn’t done anything wrong. When she doesn’t move, the officer grabs her and tosses her from the chair.

Robinson says it was a scary experience and there was no “justifiable reason” for the officer’s actions.

Another student who was in the class during the incident says that she was arrested for screaming and praying out loud.

Niya Kenny told WLTX-TV that she couldn’t believe that Student Resource Office Ben Fields used that much force on her classmate. The 18-year-old Kenny says she started crying and screaming and someone said since she had so much to say, she would also be arrested.

She was charged with disturbing schools.

Her mother, Doris Kenny, told the TV station she was shocked and upset when she saw the video. She says she is not mad at her daughter because she was “brave enough to speak out against what was going on.”