The Justice Department investigating S.C. police, the Civil Rights Division, the FBI in Columbia, S.C., and the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office for South Carolina are conducting a civil rights probe into the circumstances surrounding the arrest of the student. \u00a0The incident in a math classroom involved a white officer and a black female student, who was arrested for disturbing schools, according to the sheriff\u2019s department. \u00a0Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott, who requested the independent criminal probe, said at a Tuesday news conference he was \u201cshocked and disturbed\u201d by what the short video showed.<\/p>\n
The deputy involved, who the sheriff\u2019s department identified as Ben Fields, has been suspended without pay. Results from the department\u2019s internal investigation could come as early as Wednesday. \u00a0Fields, a school resource officer, did not return requests for comment Tuesday. An attorney representing Fields in a separate civil case declined to comment on his behalf.<\/p>\n
The videos circulating publicly don\u2019t depict the moments leading up to the officer grabbing the student, and school officials declined to provide details, citing the ongoing investigation. \u00a0The officer involved has been banned from school district property, a \u201cpermanent request,\u201d the district\u2019s Board of Trustees Chairman James Manning said at a separate Tuesday news conference.<\/p>\n
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Justice Department investigating S.C. police officer who threw student across classroom The Justice Department investigating S.C. police, the Civil Rights Division, the FBI in Columbia, S.C., and the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office for South Carolina are conducting a civil rights probe into the circumstances surrounding the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15068,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[152],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-around-the-world"],"yoast_head":"\n