A white school police officer was caught on video slamming a Black female student to the ground at Liberty High School in Kissimmee, Florida.
In the video, which was widely circulated on Twitter, the resource officer, identified as Deputy Ethan Fournier, holds the student’s hands behind her before slamming her to the ground.
The video also shows the girl stops moving at some point after her head hits the concrete first, before bouncing back up.
Fournier proceeds to handcuff her as another officer stands over them.
Other students can be heard yelling in the video, shocked by the scene in front of them.
Dana Schafter, a spokesperson for the district, told NBC News that the student was “checked out” by paramedics but didn’t provide any additional information on her condition.
At a press briefing on Wednesday (January 26), Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez reported the student was “fine.”
Lopez said the incident occurred after “a disruption of a school function.”
“The student was not complying with lawful commands. She went after another student and from there it excelled,” he said.
An account by TMZ says that the fight between two students had already been broken up, and the students separated “when the officer came out of nowhere, picked her up and body-slammed her” to the concrete.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is leading an independent criminal investigation.
The incident sparked immediate outrage from people, including filmmaker Ava Duvernay.
State law in Florida requires all district-operated schools to have at least one armed officer on site every day. Schools in the county returned to in-person learning, and the video shows both the officer and student were wearing masks.
Photo: Getty Images