UNNECESSARY BEATDOWN OVER A CELL PHONE

     I remember when I was in high school, there were no such thing as cell phones yet. When my classmates and I wanted to communicate, we would hand each other notes. If those notes were intercepted by the teacher, you were embarrassed in class or you were given detention. That was about it. Apparently, not the case these days. 

     The FBI and the U.S. Justice Department will investigate a South Carolina sheriff's deputy brutal takedown of a high school student, an assault allegedly prompted by the girl's refusal to hand over her cell phone. Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said he requested the federal probe into the officer's use of force, which was captures in a viral video even the sheriff called "disturbing." Lott said his department will cooperate with federal investigators in conducting its own internal review. 

     Classmates revealed that the shocking assault on the Spring Valley High School student started over the girl's cell phone. A teacher caught the high school senior using her phone in math class and demanded she hand it over and get out of her chair. The teen refused to do so, even after the teacher and school administrator repeatedly asked her. That's when the deputy, Ben Fields, was brought in and tackled the teen, who has not been identified, but her defiance launched a nationwide outrage when a video of the violent beatdown went viral. One student stated, "She really hadn't done anything wrong. She said she took her phone out, but it was only for a quick second." 

     The student's video of he now-infamous takedown shows officer Fields effortlessly flipping over a desk, and the silent girl with it, before dragging her across the room like a rag doll. Once he had the student pinned to the ground, he repeatedly yelled, "Give me your hands! I'll put you in jail next!" He made good on his statement and arrested the sobbing teen for disrupting school. She was released on a $1,000 bond. It seems this girl was not the one disrupting class though. It was officer Fields. 

     Fields, an 11-year veteran on Richland County Sheriff's Office, has been a resource officer with Spring Valley High School since 2008. Unfortunately, for him, he's been named in at least two lawsuits during his time with the sheriff's office, including a case accusing him of racial bias. That case is expected to go to trial next year. I'm sure this won't help. He's been placed on administrative leave pending this investigation. 

     Okay, here's what I don't understand. If the teacher asked for the phone because they felt the student was disrupting class, why didn't the student just give it to the teacher knowing she'll get it back after class? Why did it have to get this far? On the other end, did officer field really need to use this type of force on a young black girl? Would he have used that force if she was a young white girl? My last question is was this all necessary? What do you think? 

Check out the video here: