Sheriff: Deputy Fired After Video Showed Him Flipping Teen Out Of Desk

In this Monday, Oct, 26, 2015 photo made from video taken by a Spring Valley High School student, Senior Deputy Ben Fields tries to forcibly remove a student who refused to leave her high school math class, in Columb... In this Monday, Oct, 26, 2015 photo made from video taken by a Spring Valley High School student, Senior Deputy Ben Fields tries to forcibly remove a student who refused to leave her high school math class, in Columbia S.C. The Justice Department opened a civil rights investigation Tuesday after Fields flipped the student backward in her desk and tossed her across the floor. (AP Photo) MORE LESS
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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina sheriff says he has fired a school officer after video showed him flipping a teen backward out of her desk and tossing her across a classroom.

Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said Wednesday that Senior Deputy Ben Fields has been fired. He had been a school resource officer at Spring Valley High School.

Lott says the maneuver that Fields used on the student was not based on training or acceptable procedure.

Lott has said the girl was uninjured aside from a rug burn. However, the girl’s attorney, Todd Rutherford, told ABC’s “Good Morning America” that she “has a cast on her arm, she has neck and back injuries.” He says she also has a bandage on her forehead because of the rug burn.

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