COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The Justice Department says it has opened a federal civil rights investigation after a South Carolina school resource officer was captured on video pulling a female high school student from her desk and dragging her across a classroom.
Justice Department spokeswoman Dena Iverson said the investigation will look into “the circumstances surrounding the arrest” and determine if a federal law was broken.
Officials said the confrontation at Spring Valley High School in Columbia occurred Monday after the student refused the officer’s order to leave the classroom for being disruptive.
The officer was placed on leave after video surfaced.
The county sheriff’s office had requested a federal investigation.
The federal probe will include the FBI, the Justice Department’s civil rights division and the U.S. attorney’s office inSouth Carolina.
