COLUMBIA, SC– A new video angle of the controversial arrest at a Columbia high school appears to show the female student hitting the officer as he attempts to arrest her.
The video was posted to Instagram following the arrest at Spring Valley High School. The video offers a different perspective of the incident, and it, along with two other videos of the exchange, is being used in the the Richland County Sheriff’s Department’s investigation into the conduct of the school resource officer.
The department expects to complete its investigation within 24 hours. Richard County Sheriff Leon Lott spoke to CNN’s Jake Tapper today and said that while he’s disturbed by the actions of the officer who grabbed a student in a South Carolina classroom, there is video of her swinging at him.
School resource officer Ben Fields––who has been the subject of complaints before––was suspended after video emerged showing him getting into an intense confrontation with a student and physically grabbing her. Lott said yesterday that the student was under arrest for causing a disturbance in school and refused to leave, which led to the confrontation.
Tapper confronted Lott and asked him what could have possibly justified that kind of treatment.
Lott said there’s a third video that “showed her striking and punching at the officer.” That being said, he did admit “his actions after he put his hands on her disturb me.”