About 100 South Carolina high school students walked out of class on Friday to protest the firing of Ben Fields, the sheriff's deputy who was recorded on video flipping a disruptive student out of her desk and tossing her across a classroom floor.
The protest was "an orderly student-led activity," Spring Valley High School principal Jeff Temoney told
The State newspaper. "Our students and our staff were safe.
"I addressed the students to let them know that we understood their need to make their voices heard," he added. "Then, I reminded them that Spring Valley High is all about the business of teaching and learning, so it’s time to go back to class."
The demonstration lasted about 10 minutes, the principal said.
Fields, a veteran school resource officer and football coach, was fired after Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott determined that he had violated departmental policies in arresting the student last Monday.
He called Fields' actions "unacceptable," adding that the videos recorded by the girl's classmates showed that she posed no danger to anyone.
Federal and state investigations into the former deputy's actions are underway.
Videos and pictures of the walkout appeared on social media, some showing students wearing T-shirts that said "#bringbackfields" and "#bringfieldsback." Ty'Juan Fulton, 18, a Spring Valley senior who participated in the protest, told the State that Fields was a "nice guy" and called the incident a "misunderstanding."
"He didn’t have to take it that far, but [the student] should have listened at the same time," when she was asked to leave the classroom, he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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