Raven-Symone is adding her voice to the conversation about the now-viral Spring Valley High School assault — and people might not like what she has to say. During a segment on After the View on Tuesday, Oct. 27, the former Disney star seemed to suggest that both South Carolina Deputy Ben Fields and the student he threw to the ground were at fault in the incident.
"The girl was told multiple times to get off the phone," Symone said. "There's no right or reason for him to be doing this type of harm — that's ridiculous — but at the same time, you gotta follow the rules in school. First of all, why are there cellphones in school? This shouldn't even be a problem to begin with, and he shouldn't have been acting like that on top of it."
As seen in video of the encounter, Fields flipped over the student's desk — while she was still sitting in the chair attached to it — and then dragged her across the floor and out of the classroom. He was suspended earlier this week, then fired on Wednesday, Oct. 28, amid a firestorm online.
"I mean, the girl was obviously not following the rules, but you cannot lay your hands on someone," Symone's co-host Michelle Collins countered. "I mean, maybe even in jail, but even on Beyond Scared Straight, which you know is a show I love, they never hit the kids like that."
Symone then brought up previous complaints about Fields, citing a lawsuit from eight years ago. "He was actually sued for false arrest, excessive force, and battery in 2007, after a couple accused him of manhandling them," she read from a paper on the table in front of her. "He has a record and he's still hired. But at the same time, get off yo' phone. You are in school. Get off yo' phone."
View co-host Paula Faris then weighed in, adding, "It's 'get off your phone,' but it doesn't seem that young people…have that respect for authority. And I think a lot of it comes from the home. If the parents aren't demanding respect, if the parents aren't bringing their kids up right, they expect the teachers, and they expect the administrators to instill values. That's your job as parents, okay?"
"But you also should not beat students," Collins interjected. "I'm sorry, I mean…that looked like CGI. He flung her out of that chair so fast it looked fake."
