Jonathan Coker, a White school resource officer, has been accused of manhandling and choking a mixed-race middle school student. The incident was shared by the 12-year-old's mother on the social media, resulting in widespread outrage.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) has been asked to conduct an independent investigation by the Clarendon County Sheriff Tim Baxley.
Mother Accuses Officer of Choking Her Son
The incident took place in the East Clarendon Middle-High School in December, last year. In a Facebook Live, Chelsea Nelson the mother of the unnamed student, alleged that Coker picked up her son by the neck of his sweatshirt, causing his to lose consciousness.
"Not only was he choked but he was forcibly yanked to the level. He was pulled back and lifted off his feet from backward angle by his hoodie. Jonathan Coker pulled with such force Harlen came off the ground pulled backwards," said Chelsea. The mother also claimed that Coker pushed the student when he was walking away after the alleged assault.
Claiming that her son was cooperative, the mother said that the boy did not do anything to warrant this kind of force. "He wanted to be forceful and physical and that is what he did," the mother said about Coker.
Video Fails to Back Mother's Claims
FITS News reported that following the widespread outrage, the sheriff's office posted surveillance video from inside the school. "While the independent investigation currently being conducted by SLED is not complete, I wanted the public to see the alleged incident in its entirety," Sheriff Baxley said in the statement. "I urge the public to view the entire video on its own void of any statements or online rumors you may have previously heard."
Claiming that the video doesn't confirm the mother's allegations, the outlet reported, "For example, it does not show the student being choked unconscious – although there are several frames in which it appears as though Coker may have grabbed the boy by his clothing (and there are also periods of time during which Coker and the student are out of the range of cameras)."
Meanwhile, in a Facebook post, the Black Lives Matter South Carolina alleged that the sheriff's office has not released two additional videos. "We are demanding for both videos to be released immediately to the public, so we can complete our investigation. We don't have time for coverups, we don't have for games. Give us the video — or we are coming in full force!" the statement from the group read.
