Jonathan Coker: SC school resource officer accused of picking boy, 12, by the neck, choking him
CLAREDON COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA: In the rural part of South Carolina, a school resource officer was accused of using physical force over a 12-year-old male middle schooler. A criminal investigation, threats of protests, and the release of surveillance footage have shone light on the details but haven't been too beneficial in resolving the matter or easing the tension.
Jonathan Coker, the school resource officer at Claredon County, apparently choked the unnamed 12-year old middle school student. This student is from East Claredon Middle-High School. When his mother took this incident to social media, it gained lots of traction which resulted in protest threats.
READ MORE
How much money did Black Lives Matter receive last year? More than 60% of donations remained unused
In the live stream she shared on Facebook, the 12-year old's mother claimed that her son was picked up from the collar of his sweatshirt which eventually led him to become unconscious. Claredon County's sheriff's department received a complaint from the mother on December 15. On December 16, she met with the authorities to discuss these allegations.
Claredon sheriff Tim Baxley requested the assistance of South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) to look into the matter and conduct an independent investigation without any involvement or hindrance from the sheriff's department.
After the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division conducted their research, they obtained and released the footage captured on the CCTV of the school premises. This footage was released by Tim Baxley for "the public to see the alleged incident in its entirety."
However, as seen in the video footage released on December 30, it cannot be confirmed whether or not the school resource officer is at fault. While the mother claimed that her son fell unconscious after being grabbed by the neck of his sweatshirt, nothing such was witnessed in the clip. That said, there are certain frames in the video where it may look like Jonathan Coker was in fact holding the 12-year-old by the neck of his sweatshirt but again there are several frames where both of them were outside the camera's view.
The Facebook group Black Lives Matter South Carolina (BLSMC) is organizing protests against the injustice the 12-year old faced. The group said, "all of the footage was not released and so no we not moving on."