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Florida deputy bodyslams Black high school student in shocking video, knocks her out: 'This cop is a problem'

Neither the student nor the deputy has been identified, and the student's condition has not been made public yet

Multiple videos have emerged on social media showing an Osceola deputy body-slamming a student of Liberty High School in Florida to the ground, knocking her head onto the sidewalk, apparently causing the student to lose consciousness. The footage spread across social media before the Osceola Sheriff's office released a statement. Neither the student nor the deputy has been identified, and the student's condition has not been made public yet. The video showed the masked deputy slamming the student on to the ground, following which her head hit the pavement with an audible noise before she went limp. The deputy then straddled the student and put her arms behind her back to place her in handcuffs as another deputy approached. The student remained motionless on the ground as she was handcuffed and did not appear to regain consciousness during the encounter. In the video, a nearby student is seen yelling at the deputy, "What the **** is wrong with you?"

A user shared the video, writing, "This is liberty high school in Osceola county and I’ve seen my share of body slams from that school not only by officers but from Deans as well. I’ve seen grown ass man hop on top of girls to hold them down while they are clearly in distress."

The user continued, "Now I don’t know what the f*** your training is but this ain’t it. This girl was already separated and under control by one of the faculty members the officer came out of nowhere picked her up and bodyslammed her head first on to the concert."

Another student wrote of the encounter, "Hi, i go to this school. this was recorded by many students around. it just happened right after B lunch finished. We had a fight a little earlier this same day during B lunch. You should bring this and post it on the news. This cop is a problem and the school won’t do anything."

The Osceola County Sheriff's Office released a statement confirming that the deputy was employed by the agency as a school resource officer at Liberty High School in Kissimmee. The statement said, "The incident appeared to take place between classes in the hallway. In the video, it shows the deputy taking the student to the ground and placing handcuffs on her."

The office also stated that they are in the "initial stages" of the investigation, collecting video, witness statements, and relevant information related to the incident. They also wrote, "We know that the School Resource Officer was in the process of trying to stop the student from fighting another student in the hallway when the deputy took her into custody." 

An updated press release will be provided later, according to the office.

The Orlando Sentinel notes that the Osceola County Sheriff's use of force policy dictates that officers use “the minimal amount of force necessary to perform official duties.” It also states that deputies should only use force in certain situations when the person has not responded to verbal commands, including in cases of self-defense, when defending someone or when there is a “credible threat to public safety.”