A San Antonio school police officer was fired by the district April 11 after a video surfaced of him body slamming a middle school student.
San Antonio Independent School District Officer Joshua Kehm was fired for behavior district officials described as “absolutely unwarranted” and for misrepresenting the incident, which occurred in March.
Kehm had claimed the 12-year-old girl he was struggling with inadvertently fell as he tried to break up a fight between two students. Superintendent Pedro Martinez says his decision to fire Kehm came after he saw a cell phone video of the incident recently, the Associated Press reports.
Kehm had been with the district for just over a year.
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The Texas Rangers are also investigating the incident to determine if a criminal case should be opened.
The assistant principal at Rhodes Middle School, where the incident took place, was also placed on paid leave for not notifying the district of an incident where a student is restrained. Under district policy, officers should only use physical force in the case of imminent danger.
The Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas says it will appeal Kehm’s firing and will represent him in court proceedings.
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