A former South Carolina police deputy seen violently tossing a high school student to the ground in a classroom will not face any criminal charges. Prosecutors issued the decision Friday from the October 2015 incident captured on a student’s smartphone. Ben Fields, who became known on social media as “Officer Slam” was fired from the Richland County Police force after he was recorded in the disturbing altercation with a student who refused to put away her cellphone after repeatedly instructed to do so by her teacher.
Fields enters the classroom, standing over the student who is seated in her desk as she again declines to give up her phone. Fields then wrapped his forearm around her neck, flipped her and the desk backwards then dragged her across the floor.
The 12-page state investigation released by Solicitor Dan Johnson with FBI and State Law Enforcement Division investigations, offers more than a dozen witness statements outlining what happened in the Spring Valley High School classroom. One witness told law enforcement, “the incident looked worse in the video than it did in the classroom.” Another witness said Fields did not tell the student she was under arrest.
The manner in which Fields arrested the student is noted in the report as what Johnson said, “did not rise to the level of a criminal offense.”
Johnson reviewed the victim’s medical records indicating she sustained injuries from the altercation including minor abrasions. In his “legal opinion”, Johnson cited insufficient probable cause to issue criminal charges.
The report also published text messages from the victim following the assault.
“Yeah I was talking to the resource officer nd shit I fought him got thrown across room pit nd handcuffs nd everythang I Dnt feel like talking right now.”
Fields’ has been previously sued for his actions in three separate cases. His firing is described in the report as “both appropriate and necessary”. The report concludes with a recommendation by Solicitor Johnson.
“It is my strong belief that the Richland County Sheriff’s Department should continue to undertake additional training in this arena such that officers can take appropriate, lawful and respectful action, when necessary to protect the safety and well-being of not only our students and teachers, but all citizens of Richland County.”
The victim and student who filmed the incident were both charged with disrupting the school will not be prosecuted. Last month, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a federal lawsuit against the state challenging the students charges.
The ACLU found that hundreds of students — as young as 7 years old — are being charged under a far-reaching and nebulous statute for behaviors like loitering, cursing, or undefined “obnoxious” actions on school grounds. The statute also has a chilling effect on students who speak out against policing abuses within the schools. Black students are nearly four times as likely to be targeted under the law.
Trigger warning: Here is the violent video.
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