Hillary Clinton responded to the violent arrest of a South Carolina high school student on Tuesday, arguing that there is “no excuse for violence inside a school.”
“There is no excuse for violence inside a school,” Clinton tweeted. “The #AssaultAtSpringValleyHigh is unacceptable — schools should be safe places. -H”
Video of the arrest, which shows an officer tipping a female student over in her desk and yanking her backwards, has sparked outrage.
After flipping the student over, the officer doesn’t let go and sharply tugs the student toward the front of the classroom. The video shows the student flying from her desk and sliding across the floor.
According to Lt. Curtis Wilson, a spokesman for the Richland County Sheriff’s Department, the instructor in the classroom had asked the student “to leave the class several times” and the officer was called to remove the student.
The FBI and local U.S. Attorney’s Office have opened a civil rights investigation to determine if federal laws were violated during the student’s arrest, a Justice Department spokesperson said.
Clinton has been quick to comment on issues of police brutality during her campaign, often using Twitter, especially, to get her viewpoint out quickly.
Clinton’s first speech as a candidate was on criminal justice reform, and the candidate is scheduled to speak at a NAACP event in Charleston, South Carolina on Friday, where the topic of criminal justice reform is expected to come up.
