South Carolina Protest Against Brutal Police Assault of Student
November 2, 2015 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
You’ve probably seen the video of a Richland County, South Carolina, cop viciously assaulting a student, a young Black woman, at Spring Valley High School who had, according to the teacher, committed the “crime” of refusing to give up her phone.
Sheriff’s deputy and “school resource officer” Ben Fields, who was called in, treated the student like something less than human, like how a slave master would act against a defiant slave he wanted to brutally bring under control.
Not only was the student who was brutalized arrested for “disturbing school,” but another young woman in the class was arrested on the same charge—because she shot a cell phone video of the assault and spoke out against what was happening.
On Saturday, October 31, several groups held a protest outside the state house in Columbia, South Carolina, against the police assault Spring Valley High. The action was called by Black Lives Matter, Black Educators for Justice, and Black Lawyers for Justice. Fields has been fired from his job. The groups are demanding that the charges against the two students be dropped; that criminal charges be brought against Ben Fields, that several school administrators be fired; and for an end to “school resource officers”—cops—in schools. (Video of local TV news coverage of the protest available here.)
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