School district to address viral video of resource officer slamming student to the ground

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO/AP) — In response to a violent incident that occurred at Spring Valley High School on Monday, Richland School District Two will hold a press conference after outrage continues to grow over the viral video. 

The briefing will be held at the Richland School District Two District Office, 6831 Brookfield Road at 4 p.m. to address the incident involving a Richland County Sheriff’s Deputy Ben Fields and a female student. 

Superintendent Dr. Debbie Hamm, School Board Chairman James Manning, Chief Diversity and Multicultural Inclusion Officer Helen Grant and SVHS Principal Jeff Temoney will deliver remarks. 

The school district has banned a school resource officer pending an investigation after a video surfaced showing him tossing a student across a classroom floor. 

Richland Two Superintendent Debbie Hamm said the incident apparently captured on a student’s cellphone happened Monday at Spring Valley High School in Columbia. Hamm says school officials and sheriff’s deputies are investigating. 

The video shows the uniformed officer asking a student to rise from a classroom desk. Another adult is standing nearby. The officer tips the attached chair and desk backward until the student spills to the floor, then tosses the child several feet to the floor at the front of the classroom. 

Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott says the officer was removing a student who was disruptive and refused to leave class.