A central Florida school resource deputy has been fired after a viral video showed him yanking a middle school student by the head.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office released body camera footage that showed a deputy attempting to calm down several girls who were involved in a fight.
The situation appeared to be under control, until the deputy accused of using excessive force showed up.
In the video, the deputy is heard yelling "you’re the one who started this [expletive] at school" as he approached the girl. He spun her around, placed her hands behind her back and grabbed her by the head as he led her away.
The deputy, who was not identified, was also seen in the footage yelling at the crowd of screaming children witnessing the incident, calling them "stupid little children."
Orange County Sheriff John Mina said that he removed the deputy from the school and fired him after seeing his use of excessive force in the video that made its rounds on social media, as well as in the bodycam video.
"I am extremely upset, disappointed and outraged by the conduct of our deputy sheriff in the instance," Mina said Friday during a press conference.
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Mina says that he didn’t see a need for the deputy to put his hands on a middle school child and that it looked like the deputy lost control.
"I think the deputy who showed up first really had the situation under control, was trying to deescalate it and the school resource deputy showed up and escalated the situation and made it worse," Mina said.
Officials say an internal affairs investigation is underway and it will be up the state’s attorney’s office to determine if criminal charges will be filed.
