A school resource officer was filmed threatening to shoot a student at a Florida high school when he tried to leave the campus late last year, reportedly leading to the student’s expulsion and the video going viral.
The 17-year-old student at River Ridge High School in New Port Richey was attempting to attend an orthodontics appointment on the morning of Dec. 17 when a Pasco County Sheriff’s deputy and a school staff member blocked his vehicle from leaving, his mother, Nedra Miller, said in a Facebook post.
A copy of the deputy’s bodycam video, which was obtained by Miller and uploaded to Facebook, shows the student trying to drive past the officer when an argument ensues, leading to the threat of lethal force.
“You’re gonna get shot, you come another fucking foot closer to me,” the officer tells the student while pointing what appears to be a radio at the boy’s vehicle. “You run into me and you’ll get fucking shot. This is my campus, brother.”
The staffer accompanying the deputy is identified as Cindy Bond, who oversees student discipline at the school, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
A spokesperson for the Pasco Sheriff’s Office, reached by HuffPost, said they are unable to comment on the matter because of an internal review that’s taking place. Bond did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.
The video shows the student repeatedly telling the deputy that he is allowed to leave but he is told by the deputy that he needs to produce a note from a parent or go back to class. Miller, commenting on Facebook, said she told the school that her son would be missing class. He was only on campus that morning because he was dropping another student off, she said.
The video shows her son refusing to tell the deputy where he is heading to when asked. The officer repeatedly calls the student a truant and accuses him of using profanities. There is no evidence of this last claim in the video.
Students are allowed to remain silent if questioned by a school resource officer, according to an online handbook on public students’ rights in Florida by the American Civil Liberties Union. This right does not apply to questions by school staff, however.
“You do not have to speak with law enforcement officials, but refusing to answer questions to school officials may enable the school to discipline you,” the ACLU’s handbook advises.
An argument between the student and the two adults escalates, and Bond accuses the teen of calling her the N-word. Both Bond and the teen, who appears taken aback by her language and accusation, are white.
“I didn’t say that. You’re being, like, hella racist right now,” the student tells her.
When the student backs his truck up, telling them he is going to complain to someone, Bond appears to laugh.
“He’s going to go tell who?” she asks.
“I’m glad I had the body cam,” the deputy says before turning his camera off.
The student was reportedly suspended from Dec. 17 until Jan. 9 for the incident. He was then expelled and sent to attend a program for students who ”have violated School Board policy, been recommended for expulsion or have a behavior pattern which has not been improved by a continuum of positive behavior and academic intervention strategies,” according to the Times.
School officials, as well as a public information officer for the Pasco County school district, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Miller, speaking with the Times, said she disciplined her son for what happened and expects the deputy and staffer to be as well.
“I just feel like if they were all acting like children and my son received that level of discipline, they should, too,” she told the local news outlet. “They should both be removed from their jobs.”