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Sheriff fired over video showing him slamming child to ground

The sheriff was fired after online backlash.

Photo of Samira Sadeque

Samira Sadeque

Vance county sheriff seen slamming and dragging a child

A North Carolina sheriff has reportedly been fired after video emerged showing him slamming a child to the ground in the halls of a middle school. 

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The incident took place on Thursday at Vance County Middle School in Henderson, North Carolina. 

The sheriff, who has not been named, was seen in a surveillance camera footage walking in an empty hallway with the child, who is under 12-years-old. At one point, the sheriff, in a seemingly unprompted move, violently hits the child’s stomach, lifts him, and slams him on the floor. He then picks up the child and slams him on the floor again. He then picks up the child again and drags him across the floor. The video has no audio. 

The sheriff was initially placed on paid leave, ABC News reported. Activist Shaun King shared the video on Monday morning and called for him to be fired.

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https://twitter.com/shaunking/status/1206576111565574150?s=20

 

The term “paid leave” trended on Twitter in the wake of this announcement, with many saying the brutality of the crime did not match with the consequences the sheriff faced.

“This is terrible policing— especially for a school! For this, paid leave is unacceptable! This is criminal!” one user wrote.

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https://twitter.com/_HeyMiranda/status/1206578828639911938?s=20

 

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Another user said that when they called the sheriff’s department, they were hung up on.

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Within hours of King’s tweet, the sheriff was fired. King announced the update and said there should be a criminal investigation into the incident.

https://twitter.com/shaunking/status/1206617740003422209?s=20

 

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The family of the boy is also calling for a criminal investigation into the incident, WRAL.com reported. 

“It just made me mad,” John Miles, a pastor and the boy’s grandfather, reportedly said on Monday. “Look at the video. He could have been killed.”

Brame told WRAL.com that the sheriff doesn’t have any prior records and has been with the department for two years. When reached by the Daily Dot on Monday afternoon, the sheriff’s office did not say if criminal charges are being pursued against the sheriff and said North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, invited by Brame, is handling the investigation. 

A spokesperson for the bureau told the Daily Dot that the district attorney will determine what charges, if any, will be pursued after the investigation.

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