Ben Crump now representing teen body-slammed by school resource officer
In 2020, Crump has taken on the cases of police brutality and lethality victims Jacob Blake, George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
The family of the 16-year-old who was body-slammed by a Florida school resource officer has hired celebrated civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump to represent them in a potential civil action.
“Deputy Ethan Fournier must be held accountable for his disturbing and violent actions by being fired and arrested. @NatJackTweets and I have been retained by this student’s family and we’re urging FDLE to complete a swift investigation,” Crump tweeted Thursday.
Crump is calling for Fournier to be fired and a probe to be pursued by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The Osceola County Sheriff’s office has placed the officer on leave while it investigates.
Natalie Jackson was seen being slammed on the concrete by Fournier, who was reportedly stopping a fight between the girl and another student.
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As theGrio previously reported, the violent video, which was shared widely on Twitter, shows the officer throwing the teenaged girl to the ground, and she appears to stop moving. He then kneels beside her and begins to handcuff her as another officer uses hand motions to keep other students back.
The incident took place at Liberty High School in Kissimmee, Florida, where students have returned to in-person classes. The young girl and the officer were both wearing masks.
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Crump tweeted Wednesday: “The BRUTALITY of an @OsceolaSheriff deputy body-slamming a student at Liberty HS in Kissimmee FL, hit so hard on concrete she likely lost consciousness! This was NOT a ‘minimal amount of force necessary’ as dictated by the Dept’s use of force policy! We must demand justice!”
The head of Ben Crump LLC, widely considered the nation’s top racial-justice advocacy attorney, has represented the cases of numerous police brutality and lethality victims, a list that includes Michael Brown, George Floyd, Jacob Blake and Breonna Taylor.
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The viral video of Fournier’s act was condemned online, with celebrities like Ava Duvernay and Jamie Foxx calling out the brutality.
“What in the absolute phuck?!!” Foxx tweeted. “Slam a girl to the concrete after you’ve already subdued her??!! What kind of heartless sh*t is that??!! Someone s daughter??! WTF? cowards.”
In a statement from his law firm announcing he’d been retained to represent Jackson, Crump wrote: “It is unconscionable what happened to this young girl at the hands of someone whose primary duty is to serve and protect our children. Students, especially minorities, have a difficult enough time feeling safe in our schools. Do we really need to add school resource officers to the list of fears they deal with on a daily basis?”
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