The sheriff's deputy who dragged a South Carolina high school student from her desk before tossing her onto the floor — much of it captured on cell phone cameras — defended his actions in a statement through his attorney Wednesday.
A lawyer for former Richland County Sheriff's Deputy Ben Fields, who was assigned to work at Spring Valley High School, released the statement saying his client's actions were "justified and lawful."
The statement was issued hours after Fields was fired from the department.
In the statement, Fields also thanked people for the support he had received since Monday, when cell phone footage of the incident went viral on social media, causing uproar and leading to his dismissal.
Fields' attorney said he would make no further statements while the matter was under investigation by federal authorities. The complete statement is below:
First and foremost, Mr. Ben Fields would like to acknowledge and personally thank all of those who have offered their support of his actions during Monday's incident that occurred at Spring Valley High School. The positive response and heartfelt support of Ben has been overwhelming.We believe that Mr. Fields' actions were justified and lawful throughout the circumstances of which he was confronted during this incident. To that extent, we believe that Mr. Fields' actions were carried out professionally and at that he was performing his job duties within the legal threshold.
Mr. Fields welcomes the opportunity to address the particulars at the appropriate time. However, since this matter is presently under investigation with federal authorities, he is respectfully declining to make a statement at this time.
Until such time, there will be no further public comments from Mr. Fields or on his behalf.