On Friday, Dan Johnson, solicitor for the Fifth Judicial District of South Carolina, sent a 12-page letter to Captain John Bishop of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. In the letter, Johnson states he will not lay charges against former Senior Deputy Brian Fields regarding an incident that occurred in a classroom last October. After an investigation, Johnson concluded any charges brought against Fields would not likely result in convictions.
Fields, a school resource officer, was called to a classroom after a teacher and an administrator were having difficulty removing a student from the class. She had been on her cellphone and refused to give up the phone.
When Fields arrived, he grabbed the student around the throat, forcing her to the floor. Both the chair and her desk were knocked over. Fields then dragged the girl across the classroom floor where he managed to handcuff her and take her into custody.
At least three other students in the class recorded Fields’ actions on their cellphones and the videos were later uploaded to the Internet. The videos went viral.
A few days after the incident Fields was fired. Although both the teacher and the school administrator believed the deputy did nothing wrong, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott disagreed. Although he acknowledged the incident was partially the responsibility of the girl who would not give up her cellphone or leave the classroom, Lott said Fields did not follow proper procedure or do what he was trained to do. The sheriff added he should not thrown the girl and there were other things he could have done that were consistent with his training.
Lott also said complaints had been made about Fields in the past and some of them had merit.
In concluding no charges should be brought, Johnson examined evidence collected jointly by state police and the FBI. He also looked at medical evidence, took statements from witnesses and examined electronic messages as well as the cellphone videos of the incident.
Some of the witnesses said what happened in the classroom looked worse in the video than it actually was and another said Johnson did not intentionally throw the girl but lost his grip on her. Fields had told investigators the desk only fell over because the girl had her legs locked around it.
Johnson concluded the quick firing of Fields and other administrative actions take would hurt any prosecution that would be brought. These administrative actions including disciplinary actions taken against the teacher and the school administrator.
Although not laying charges, Johnson found the firing of Fields was appropriate.
The girl in question as well as a girl who filmed the altercation had been charged with disturbing schools. Johnson said these charges will be dropped.
