South Carolina sheriff Leon Lott announced Oct. 28 that Ben Fields, the police officer who violently arrested a 15-year-old black female student at Spring Valley High School, has been fired.
"It's not what I expect from my deputies, and it's not what I tolerate from my deputies," said Lott.
"It continues to upset me that he picked the student up and threw her."
Although Lott removed Fields from his police force, he also spent a significant discussing the student's behavior, saying she is partially responsible for the situation.
"When a classroom is disrupted by a student, that disrupts the education process and the students can't learn and the teachers can't teach," Lott said.
"We must not lose sight that this whole incident started by this student. She is responsible for initiating this action. Some responsibility falls on her."
Yet, Lott was clear to say, "what she did doesn't justify what our deputy did."
Watch part of the sheriff's announcement here:
Some activists took to Twitter to call for further action against Fields, including #BlackLivesMatter organizer Deray Mckesson:
When will they press assault charges on Officer Ben Fields? Being fired should be the beginning, not the end. https://t.co/kK2UDkOXoQ
— deray mckesson (@deray) October 28, 2015 Ferguson organizer and teacher Brittany Packnett also expressed her disappointment with Lott's criticism of the students:
Sherrod Lott: if his behavior was "not acceptable," why did you spend so much time on the child's behavior?!?
— Brittany Packnett (@MsPackyetti) October 28, 2015 I really hope Sheriff Lott doesn't respond to domestic violence calls with this same logic. "He shouldn't have hit you, but you need to..."
— Brittany Packnett (@MsPackyetti) October 28, 2015 Read more at The Washington Post.
Ryan Stewart is a teacher in Springfield, Mass., and graduate of Yale Divinity School. You can find him on Twitter @RyanMcStew.
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