About 100 students at Spring Valley High School in Columbia, S.C. staged a brief walkout Friday to show support for a school resource officer who was fired after a video that went viral showing him throwing an uncooperative black female student across the floor.
The students walked out of their classes at around 10 a.m. and gathered in the atrium to express their views on the firing of Deputy Ben Fields, with some of them wearing T-shirts reading "Free Fields" and "#BringBackFields," according to The Blaze.
Principal Jeff Temoney confronted the students, telling them that their voices were heard and assured them no one would be suspended, but they needed to return to class.
"We've heard your voices, OK? We appreciate you taking time to do this, but again, as you know, we always focus on teaching and learning, so let's head on back to class," he said.
Temoney sent a letter to parents after the students returned to class, notifying them about the incident and said the students were back in class within 10 minutes and that class continued in a "safe and productive manner," USA Today reported.
"I addressed the students to let them know that we understood their need to make their voices heard," Temoney wrote, according to WLTX-TV. "Then I reminded them that Spring Valley High is all about the business of teaching and learning, so it's time to go back to class."
Some students reportedly said that their original plans were to walk out of the building, but in the end, none of them left campus.
School officials said the walkout was "small" and "orderly."