Police violently manhandling high school students over candy
Covington, GA — Asah Glenn, a 14-year old Black student from Georgia, was violently manhandled by local police for taking a Snickers bar from an unlocked vending machine at his school, a video shows. The deputy’s office is now investigating what appears to be a use of excessive force.
Another student captured live footage on video that shows the encounter between the deputies of Newton County Sheriff’s Office and Alcovy High School students who were caught raiding a vending machine that has been opened somehow.
The teachers and school resource officers initially tried to handle the situation but they failed. The deputies were then called and “responded to what first appeared to be a fight.” They eventually determined it was a theft of snacks and so they grabbed some students.
According to Glenn, he was choked and slammed to the ground by deputies who were almost double his size.
“I was scared for my life,” Glenn, who is a ninth-grader, told Fox News. “It was two armed deputy sheriffs and a coach that tackled me over the Snickers, and I was scared.”
The video shows that Glenn wasn’t resisting and he didn’t try to escape when he was ultimately body slammed, which caused a rib injury and scraped his knee.
“When I had the Snickers in my hand, I saw the coach in my peripheral vision, so I dropped the Snickers bar, and that’s when they used force on me,” Glenn said.
Another student, identified as 15-year-old Keyerrius Reed, was also seen pepper-sprayed because he was holding an old Skittles wrapper and the sheriff’s office confirmed it. But they claimed that there was no evidence that deputies slammed the students, despite the video showing otherwise.
Glenn’s lawyer, Maluwi Davis, however, said that the students were indeed maltreated. He said, “He’s a ninth grader. They goof off, they make dumb decisions, but nothing that would warrant the level of violence you see in this video.”
In connection to the incident, Newton County Schools released a statement saying, “In addition to possible legal charges, students involved in the theft will be disciplined for violating the student code of conduct. We are aware of the student’s allegation and have forwarded the information to the Newton County Sheriff’s Office for review.”
Glenn, who was suspended for three days in school, is facing charges for theft by taking and disorderly conduct. Reed was suspended for 10 days and is charged with disruption of a public school, obstruction, theft by taking, and disorderly conduct. Another 14-year-old student was charged with theft by taking.
Meanwhile, the deputy who appeared in the video has been reassigned to another job during an investigation for excessive force.