Spring Valley High 'assault': Sheriff calls video of Ben Fields attack 'very disturbing'

The South Carolina Sheriff was responding to videos of Deputy Ben Fields slamming a black student to the floor of a classroom

After one of his officers was filmed slamming a student to the floor of a South Carolina classroom, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott has called the incident "very disturbing."

Speaking to US broadcaster WLTX19, Sheriff Lott said, "It's very disturbing what happened today. It's something I have to deal with and that's what we're going to be doing."

"I shake my head and just say...I ask why and that's what I want to know. I want to know why something like that happened," he said.

The deputy involved in the incident has been placed on administrative leave as Lott detailed, "He is not working. We are not allowing him to work at this point."

After being posted on social media, the video of Deputy Ben Fields slamming a young black student to the floor of a classroom quickly reached the attention of millions.

#AssaultAtSpringValleyHigh began trending as many offered their views on the arrest.

The altercation was captured from two different angles, both showing how the student is dragged across the floor after being brought down.

The student concerned was being "disruptive" according to police and had to be forcibly removed after refusing to leave the class.

The girl was then charged with disturbing schools, before being released to the custody of her parents.

I had never seen nothing like that in my life, a man use that much force on a little girl.

&#13; <p>Fellow student Niya Kenny</p>&#13;

Another girl was charged with disturbing schools after standing up for her classmate. Niya Kenny told WLTX19 "I know this girl don't got nobody and I couldn't believe this was happening.

"I had never seen nothing like that in my life, a man use that much force on a little girl. A big man, like 300 pounds of full muscle. I was like 'no way, no way.' You can't do nothing like that to a little girl. I'm talking about she's like 5'6".

"I was crying, screaming and crying like a baby," says Kenny. "I was in disbelief."

According to New York Daily News, Deputy Ben Fields has allegedly been accused of misconduct before and carries the nickname 'The Incredible Hulk' around school.

Sheriff Lott clarified that Fields had been sued before and the juries had found in his favour on those occasions. He had also been involved in a lawsuit that concerned a student being expelled but did not involve a claim of excessive force.

Asked about the training of the officer with regards to the removal of students, Lott said, "That's what we're going to address. Hopefully we would remove that student with minimal force and you know, if possible, no force at all. And you know, that's what...that's what we got to look at and see why he escalated to the level that he did."