A police officer was caught on video throwing a student to the ground
A Texas police officer threw a student to the ground at her high school — and now he’s facing a department investigation.
On Friday during dismissal at Cedar Ridge High School in Round Rock, students filmed a police officer wrapping his arms around a girl’s neck and throwing her onto the ground before other officers rushed to assist, according to KXAN.
The teen was being apprehended because she allegedly attacked another student on the school bus, beating her until an assistant principal pulled the kids apart, according to KXAN. That situation is also being investigated.
“We’ll take the appropriate actions that we need to take if we find the officer did anything inappropriate,” Round Rock Police chief Allen Banks told KXAN. The police department did not return Yahoo Lifestyle’s information request.
The station printed a community letter from Principal Jiae Kim: “My administrative team, along with district leaders, is working with Round Rock Police to fully review the situation, what led up to it, and how it was handled. The safety of our students and staff, as well as the emotional wellbeing of our students, is of paramount importance to us. We strive to create a campus environment where students feel safe and protected at all times and appreciate our partnership with law enforcement who help us accomplish this goal.”
Deborah Fowler, the executive director of the nonprofit justice center Texas Appleseed, which is talking with district families, told KXAN, “We have concerns about the student’s actions on the school bus. But it’s hard to see from the video what the justification would be using that kind of force once the student was off the bus and was no longer a threat to students or anyone else on the school campus.”
“In our research, we’ve shown that black students, in particular, are over-represented in interactions with police, including uses of force,” Fowler said. “I hope that as Round Rock is considering and investigating what happened that they’ll take a closer look at the way the use of force is being used historically on their campuses by school police and determine whether or not there are any broader trends to be concerned about as well.”
Fowler and Round Rock ISD did not return Yahoo Lifestyle’s interview request.
Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:
Father angrily confronts school officials after daughter, 5, is left behind by school bus — again
High school teacher reassigned for dragging student across classroom by her braids
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