Not Enough Evidence: Spring Valley High School Deputy Ben Fields, Will Not Be Charged

The video shocked people throughout the country. Posted on Facebook and quickly made viral, all that could be seen was a man tossing a smaller stature kid across a classroom. At the time, there was no backstory, no explanation, and not many details. All we knew was the officer was making an attempt to arrest a young girl, and another teen girl was arrested attempting to stop the violent actions from the officer.

Today in a press release, The Justice Department announced there is not enough evidence to charge, School Resource Officer, Deputy Ben Fields, with criminal civil rights violations.

Richland County and Sheriff Leon Lott fired field two days after the incident, and launched a request asking the FBI and DOJ to investigate if any civil rights violations had occurred. The DOJ had this to say:

“A team of experienced federal prosecutors and FBI agents considered whether Fields violated federal law by willfully using unreasonable force against the student at Spring Valley High School. Under the applicable federal criminal civil rights statute, prosecutors must establish, beyond a reasonable doubt, that a law enforcement officer willfully deprived an individual of a constitutional right. To establish willfulness, federal authorities must show that the officer acted with the deliberate and specific intent to do something the law forbids. This is the highest standard of intent imposed by law. Mistake, misperception, negligence or poor judgment are not sufficient to establish a federal criminal civil rights violation.

After a careful and thorough investigation, the team of experienced federal prosecutors and FBI agents determined that the evidence was insufficient to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Fields willfully deprived the Spring Valley High School student of a constitutional right. This decision is limited strictly to an application of the high legal standard required to prosecute the case under the federal civil rights statute; it does not reflect an assessment of any other aspect of the incident involving Fields and the Spring Valley High School student.”

You can read the press release in its entirety here.

In September of 2016, a court decided that Officer Ben Fields would not face any criminal charges. According to Richland County Solicitor, Dan Johnson, the court “found no probable cause” to place charges on Fields.