A number of Texas police officers are under investigation over a video circulating on social media that shows an officer grabbing a student and slamming him into a cafeteria cart during a fight.
The fight, which appeared to involve several students, occurred inside the Nimitz High School cafeteria in Irving, Texas, on Wednesday, according to The Dallas Morning News.
The video shows students squaring off and hitting one another as officers moved in to intervene. One officer is seen grabbing a student and pushing them out of the way while another officer grabs a student, slamming them into a cafeteria cart and pushing them to the ground, the video shows.
The student crashes onto the cart before falling to the floor while the officer turns his attention to other people. When the student stands up again, the officer returns and shoves him to the ground for a second time. Watch the clip below:
Police Department Releases Statement
It is not clear what led to the initial fight or if the student and officer had any interaction before or after the 18-second clip was filmed. The officers were reportedly responding to a brawl that erupted between several students in the lunch line.
Irving Police Department officials said in a statement on Thursday that the officers' use of force has sparked an internal investigation, The Dallas Morning News reported.
"The [department] reviews every use of force to ensure policies and procedures are appropriately applied," the statement read. "We have seen video clips from this fight shared on social media and an internal investigation has begun."
The officer who pushed the student has been reassigned while the investigation is ongoing, police said. He has not yet been suspended over the incident. Meanwhile, the students involved in the fight are being referred for a class C misdemeanor of fighting in public, reported NBC News.
