O’Malley: ‘No excuse’ for officer body-slamming girl

Former Gov. Martin O’Malley (D-Md.) says a South Carolina school officer crossed the line by apparently body-slamming a student after she refused to leave a classroom.

{mosads}“That’s pretty outrageous behavior,” O’Malley told host Chris Hayes on MSNBC’s “All In” Monday evening, shortly after video of the incident went viral. “I mean, that’s not appropriate behavior for any adult to treat a kid.

“I have visited classroom after classroom and there is no excuse for that sort of behavior,” the 2016 Democratic presidential candidate added.

“My oldest daughter is a teacher in Baltimore City Public Schools,” the former Maryland governor continued. “As a parent and as a father, I would be ripped ballistic if someone did that to my daughter. … That’s my reaction to that.”

Footage emerged Monday of Deputy Ben Fields aggressively confronting a female student who refused to leave a classroom at Spring Valley High School in Columbia, S.C.

The video shows Fields, who is white, overturning a black girl’s desk after she ignored his orders. He is then shown dragging the student across the room before ordering her to put her hands behind her back.

WLTX reported Monday that Richland County, S.C. is now investigating the incident after removing Fields from its school system.

Sheriff Leon Lott has also asked the FBI in South Carolina and the Justice Department for a probe of the event.

“It’s very disturbing what happened today,” Lott said. “It’s something I have to deal with and that’s what we’re going to be doing.”

WLTX said that the girl in the video was charged with disturbing a school and eventually released into her parents’ custody on Monday.

Superintendent Dr. Debbie Hamm said Richland School District Two will make a thorough review of the confrontation.

“Our district is deeply concerned about an incident that occurred at Spring Valley High School today,” she said in a statement.

“Student safety is and always will be the district’s top priority,” Hamm added. “The district will not tolerate any actions that jeopardize the safety of our students.”