A police officer in Rolesville, North Carolina,, has been placed on administrative leave after a video showing him picking up a black female high school student and slamming her to the ground went viral.The video, recorded on a cellphone and posted on Twitter on Tuesday by another student, shows Officer Ruben De Los Santos slamming the girl to the ground, then grabbing her right arm and escorting her away from a gaggle of students at Rolesville High School.
Advertisement
The incident showing an officer using what appears to be excessive or inappropriate force for a school environment is one of many in recent years that has grabbed national attention. In December, for example, a high school police officer in Reno, Nevada, shot a student who was confronting his peers with a knife. An officer violently arrested a female student in Spring Valley, South Carolina, in October 2015, flipping her out of her seat. Both of those incidents were captured on video.The girl in Tuesday’s incident is suffering from a concussion as a result of the incident, her mother told WNCN, adding that she believed the officer had used too much force.Rolesville Police Chief Bobby Langston said in a statement shared with local news outlets that De Los Santos was responding to a fight that broke out between two female students shortly after 7 a.m. Langston did not return VICE News’ request for comment.The incident is under investigation.Dhedra Lassiter, the principal of the high school, sent out a letter to the school community saying she was “deeply concerned” about what she saw in the video. “A video was circulated showing a school resource officer using force on a Rolesville High School student,” Lassiter wrote. “I understand this incident brings up questions and conversations about the manner in which we keep students and staff safe in our schools.”