When an out-of-control sheriff's deputy brutally attacked an unarmed, peaceful black child at a Columbia, SC, high school, several other students caught the incident on tape.
One of the teenagers might be going to jail, simply for speaking out as a friend was savagely beaten.
"Senior Deputy" Ben Fields, long known as "Officer Slam" to students, has been fired for the October 26 incident. He was already facing a lawsuit accusing him of discriminating against Black students, and has been sued before for using excessive force against a Black U.S. soldier in uniform. But the story gets even worse.
Niya Kennedy was one of the teenagers filming Fields' latest attack, sobbing as she watched. According to now-former Deputy Fields, crying and filming from her desk counts as disturbing the school, which is a misdemeanor - never mind that federal court after federal court have ruled it is legal to film the police.
"Since you have so much to say," Kenny says the uniformed bully told her, "you are coming too." The teenager now faces the cruel and unusual punishment of a $1,000 fine or 90 days in jail.
Tell Richland County officials: It is not illegal to cry for a friend or film the police! Drop charges against Niya Kenny now!
