Outrage erupts after video shows California school resource officer body-slamming teen

Activists are calling for a high school to sever its ties to the county sheriff’s department after a school resource deputy was seen on video body-slamming a Black 16-year-old girl.

The video, shot on Aug. 30 at Lancaster High School in Southern California, showed a school resource deputy from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department slamming 16-year-old Mikaila Robinson to the ground, then pinning her down in an attempt to restrain her.

Robinson was detained and removed from the school by the deputy, KABC reported.

The sheriff’s department said the deputy was attempting to detain Robinson “in relation to a criminal complaint,” according to a statement.

“The juvenile physically resisted the detention and the School Resource Deputy used force to effect the detention and take the juvenile into custody,” the statement said.

Robinson and her mother attended a protest outside the school Tuesday, along with Robinson’s attorney, who said the student and her family were never told why the deputy thought Robinson was a threat.

“What we have heard from the sheriff’s department is that my client was a threat,” Lisa Bloom, Robinson’s attorney, told CBS LA. “What the threat was, we haven’t been told specifically. She says all she did was walk up to the school resource officer and say ‘why are you looking at me like that, is something wrong?’”

“We are told that she was walking away, and he wanted to talk to her, and she continued walking away,” Bloom continued. “That is not justification to take down a child.”

The school district said in a statement that it’s reviewing the incident in conjunction with the LA County Sheriff’s Department, KABC reported.

Community activists at Tuesday’s protest said the officer’s actions were excessive.

“This is egregious. This is violent,” Christian Green, a coordinator for the Cancel the Contract campaign, told KCBS. “We’re going to ...speak out against it and hold you accountable.”

Cancel the Contract, is calling for the school district to end its relationship with the sheriff’s department, which places deputies on school campuses.

Meanwhile, Bloom said she’s exploring the legal options Robinson could take, including filing a civil suit against the officer and the district.

“This is more than just this family,” Bloom told KCBS. “This is about a pattern and practice here in the Antelope Valley.”

Lancaster is about 70 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

The sheriff’s department said that investigators are reviewing their policies and the tactics used in the incident, CBS LA reported.

Bloom said that there was no reason why Robinson should have been apprehended so violently.

“The only justification for physical violence, under the law, is if the officer or another person is being physically threatened with bodily injury or death,” Bloom told KABC. “A teenager simply walking away does not fit that criteria.”