On January 26, a Black 16-year-old teenager, Taylor Bracey, was slammed onto concrete by a school resource officer at Liberty High School in Kissimmee, Florida. She was knocked unconscious and has since suffered from sleep deprivation, memory loss, headaches, and blurred vision.
The incident happened after Deputy Ethan Fournier attempted to break up a fight between Bracey and another student. Fournier was unable to deescalate the fight and slammed Bracey onto the ground before he handcuffed her while she was unconscious.
Bracey’s experience with the officer is just one recent example of police brutality against Black youth, particularly in schools. According to a study published in Pediatrics, Black people are six times more likely to be shot and killed by police than their white peers. Cornelius Fredericks, who was restrained and killed by school staff when he was just 16, is a stark example of police brutality against Black youth within the school system. The Pediatrics study also revealed that the average age of youth targeted by police is 16, and over 90 percent of cases of police interventions in school involve a police officer with a firearm.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Bracey’s family, revealed that she received a concussion from trauma to her head.
“He’s supposed to be trained,” Crump said. “It’s foreseeable that children may get into altercations at school. You’re not supposed to knock them unconscious. You’re supposed to be the person who knows how to de-escalate the situation. It’s just mind-boggling.”
Now, a criminal investigation of Fournier has commenced with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and Fournier will remain on paid administrative leave from the police department while the investigation remains underway. Fournier was not employed directly by the school, but he was the girls’ flag football coach and has also been prohibited from coaching.
Community organizers have made several demands, including calls to hold Fournier accountable and to have him fired. They’ve joined Bracey’s family to demand the repeal of a law that requires at least one officer in every Florida school.