Howard County NAACP calls for criminal charges for school staff in video of black student being beaten – CBS Baltimore

ELLICOTT CITY, Maryland (WJZ) – The Howard County NAACP, the Howard County Black Community Elders Council and the African American Community Roundtable said Thursday that Howard High School staff involved in a video of a student black detainees struck on the head should be fired and charged with criminal charges.

Earlier this month, civil rights organizations called for a full investigation into the “very disturbing” incident, which was captured on cellphone video.

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Howard County Police said three staff members responded after a student allegedly assaulted several classmates in the cafeteria. The agency confirmed that one of the security guards shown in the video is a former police officer whose actions are now under investigation.

The NAACP said a deputy principal and a school resources official pinned the student when a security assistant started punching him in the head. The security assistant is on paid leave, and the student was subsequently disciplined, the group said.

“At no time did the ORS intervene to arrest the security assistant,” said NAACP Representative Candace Jaimes. “The assistant manager who was positioned almost in contact with the shoulders of the security assistant did not stop intervening after the first punch. The deputy principal just continued to hold the student.

Jaimes said that according to the Howard County School Code, corporal punishment is prohibited, but when a fight takes place, “staff may not use more force than is reasonably necessary to prevent violence and restore order. , protect themselves as well as the students involved in the fight or struggle and any person in the vicinity of the confrontation.

“The security assistant assaulted the student with force intended to cause grievous bodily harm while the SRO and deputy principals stood by and watched,†Jaimes said. “Therefore, the position of the NAACP is that the personnel involved in this incident should be fired and criminally charged. “

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Barbara Peart, of the Council of Elders, said incidents like this are not as rare in the region as some might like to believe.

“It would be tempting for us from our little Howard County cocoon to treat this as an aberration, to console us by saying that it rarely happens,†she said. “But the truth is, and we know it, that with every incident that is recorded and reported. there are incidents that go unreported and have not been recorded and so we have to take this seriously.

Peart said there was no place to ask what the student did wrong.

“What about the behavior of the child? Well, what about? He is a child, we know their brain is not yet fully developed. They make stupid decisions, â€Peart said. And even if this child had had a history of bad behavior, this is no excuse for the violence to be brought under control over his head by an adult who is supposed to care … ao we ask that appropriate action be taken against the others who made violence reign over this child. “

“We are asking that appropriate action be taken against others who have brought violence to this child and that the school system, instead of hiding behind the policies, look at the policies and recognize what is not working, what must work and what needs to be changed. “

and that the school system, instead of hiding the excuse of hiding behind policies, examine policies and recognize what is not working, what needs to work and what needs to be changed.

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They also recommended that the superintendent, Dr. Michael Martirano, review the training procedures and hiring practices of school employees to ensure that “they can be in contact with students safely.”