In the most recent account of racially motivated physical violence, South Carolina Deputy Ben Fields was filmed dragging a young black woman out of her desk at Spring Valley High School, throwing her across the classroom, and handcuffing her in front of her terrified peers.
MSNBC reports that Fields, who has a daunting slew of complaints on his record about past instances of racially motivated abuse to Spring Valley students, will be fired. Since the incident on Monday, the cop has been placed on unpaid administrative leave.
Richard County Sheriff Leon Lott, Fields’ boss, stated that he was “disturbed” by the video, and that it made him, “want to throw up.” He also denies any racial motivation in this instance of World’s Most Upsetting Overreaction, claiming that Fields “has been dating an African American female for some time now,” which, apparently, grants one a lifetime of clemency for all things racially motivated.
But, perhaps unsurprisingly, Fields has two separate federal lawsuits against him: a 2014 complaint accusing him of unfairly targeting African Americans at Spring Valley High School and a 2007 claim after a noise complaint-turned physical altercation escalated between Fields and a married couple. The New York Times reported that Fields reportedly slammed the man to the ground, handcuffed and kicked him, used an entire can of pepper spray on him, and later confiscated his wife’s cellphone as she tried to record the incident before making “lewd comments about taking her to a Motel 6.”
Just your typical hyper-masculine, gun-wielding high school football coach here to show us all who’s boss. But don’t worry – he’s not racist!
Just in case, though, both the FBI and the State Law Enforcement Division will be investigating the incident.
Photos via MSNBC
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