Kids who already face enormous amounts of pressure now find themselves subjected to state-sponsored violence while in school. One 16-year-old female African-American student should have felt refuge at Spring Valley High after recently being orphaned by the death of her mom, but thanks to a police deputy stationed in her school, what happened was almost the complete opposite.

A video depicting the female student being violently flipped from her desk and dragged across a classroom by a police officer was released about a week ago. Since then the story has completely blown up and gained an enormous amount of attention as more details and facts have been added to it.

According to the male student who shot the viral cell phone video, the girl had ignored requests by the teacher to go to the discipline office. The teacher then called administrators, who sent school resource officer Ben Fields. The situation rapidly escalated, leading to the student being body-slammed in her desk, dragged across the classroom floor by the cop and then arrested. According to the teen’s lawyer, she suffered several neck and back injuries as a result, and now can be seen wearing a cast on her arm.

The American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina released a statement saying, “There is no justification for treating a child like this.”

This whole incident occurred at Spring Valley High School in Columbia, South Carolina. The cop in the viral video, Ben Fields, 34, was one of two officers assigned to Spring Valley.

Racism may have impacted the Fields’s judgement. In 2013, a federal lawsuit claimed that he “unfairly and recklessly targets African-American students.” Due to a nationwide outcry, Fields has been terminated from the police force.

Initially, Fields was suspended without pay. County Sheriff Leon Lott blamed the student, accusing her of “not letting the teachers teach and students learn.” He even went on to state in a press conference that “she was very disruptive, she was very disrespectful, and she started this whole thing.” 

Federal investigators, including the U.S. Department of Justice, have since opened up a civil rights investigation into the matter. According to FBI Special Agent in Charge David Thomas, “the FBI will collect all available facts and evidence in order to determine whether a federal law was  violated. As this is an ongoing investigation, per Department of Justice Policy we are unable to comment further at this time.”

Sources: CNN and Daily Mail