Community activists hold news conference, demand justice for student body-slamming incident
OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. - Community activists stood alongside Liberty High School student Taylor Bracey's parents in a news conference on Saturday.
The crowd gathered outside of the Osceola County Sheriff's Office demanding that the school resource officer who body-slammed the 16-year-old to the ground be held accountable.
"We want justice, we want justice to be served," Jamesha Bracey, mother of the teen.
The sheriff's office says the school resource officer, Ethan Fournier, was in the process of trying to stop the teen from fighting with someone else.
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When things escalated, Fournier said Bracey would not follow his commands.
Bracey's mother says the girls never actually fought.
Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump and attorney Natalie Jackson are representing the family.
"What could she have done to justify being body-slammed and knocked unconscious..." Crump said in the news conference. "They’re supposed to use the most minimum force necessary. It looked like he used the most excessive force necessary. He’s a school resource officer, he's supposed to be trained."
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Bracey's mother says her daughter now has blurred vision, headaches, severe anxiety and will be seeing a doctor next week for a concussion.
"She’s having trouble remembering things, having a hard time sleeping. It’s depressing. She’s depressed. I’m depressed. We all are traumatized by what happened," Jamesha Bracey said.
Student cellphone video of the incident has gone viral.
"Taylor has to go back to school and face the repercussion of being a viral internet sensation for being abused by the police," said Natalie Jackson, attorney for the family.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the incident.
Tune in to FOX 35 Orlando for the latest Central Florida news.