Officer who slammed black student in viral video won’t face criminal charges
The South Carolina police officer who dragged a young black girl over her desk only to throw her to the ground may have lost his job over the incident, but he will not face any criminal charges.
According to the New York Daily News, Richland County Solicitor Dan Johnson found no probable cause to charge officer Ben Fields with anything for the altercation that drew national outrage.
The report went on to claim that a witness to what happened said it looked worse in the video than it did in person.
— Video shows school resource officer slamming black female student to the ground —
Most people who watched the video saw a teen who refused to give up her cell phone get assaulted as the officer put his arm around her neck and flipped her over, still in the desk, to the ground. He then dragged her across the room with her still in her desk, all with his arm firmly around her neck.
He then handcuffed her.
Fields has no regrets about how he handled the situation.
“I realized that I was going to have to physically remove the student from her seat to effectuate her arrest,” he said, going on to say that the desk only flipped because the student locked her legs inside of it.
Fields supervisor, Sheriff Leon Lott, stated that he wanted to “throw up” when he saw the video and wanted to fire the officer immediately.
— Student arrested for standing up for girl slammed by officer speaks out: ‘I was in disbelief’ —
“These administrative actions, taken prior to the completion of the investigation, have been injurious to the prosecution of the case,” Johnson said in his report.
The girl who filmed the altercation was also arrested after questioning the actions taken by Fields.
