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A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact:

Victoria Middleton, Executive Director, ACLU of South Carolina; vmiddleton@aclusouthcarolina.org; office: 843-720-1424; cell: 703-785-6488
Susan Dunn, Legal Director, ACLU of South Carolina, sdunn@aclusouthcarolina.org; office: 843-720-1425; cell: 843-830-1571

ACLU of South Carolina Comment on Video of Violence Against Student by School Resource Officer

CHARLESTON - Cell phone videos surfaced on social media today of a school resource officer at Spring Valley High School in Columbia, South Carolina, using excessive force on a female student who was sitting at her desk in a classroom. The videos show her being thrown to the floor and dragged: https://www.wistv.com/story/30353999/video-shows-confrontation-between-spring-valley-student-and-school-resource-officer.

WASHINGTON

CHARLESTON - Cell phone videos surfaced on social media today of a school resource officer at Spring Valley High School in Columbia, South Carolina, using excessive force on a female student who was sitting at her desk in a classroom. The videos show her being thrown to the floor and dragged: https://www.wistv.com/story/30353999/video-shows-confrontation-between-spring-valley-student-and-school-resource-officer.

Victoria Middleton, Executive Director of the ACLU of South Carolina, had this comment:

"There is no justification whatsoever for treating a child like this. Regardless of the reason for the officer's actions, such egregious use of force -- against young people who are sitting in their classrooms -- is outrageous. School should be a place to learn and grow, not a place to be brutalized.

"We must take action to address the criminalization of children in South Carolina, especially at school."

The American Civil Liberties Union was founded in 1920 and is our nation's guardian of liberty. The ACLU works in the courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.

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