A Mississippi mother is pressing criminal charges against an assistant principal at her daughter’s middle school after a video emerged allegedly showing the official manhandling the girl and kicking her.
Shameka McEntyre, of DeSoto County, claims her 12-year-old daughter got in a fight with another student at Southaven Middle School on May 3 when Assistant Principal Granger Brown allegedly jumped into the fray, grabbed the girl roughly and kicked her.
“All they were concerned about was getting her suspended for the fight, but when this grown man put his foot on my daughter and snatching her, that’s not cool,” McEntyre told local station WMC Action News 5.
Brown has since been suspended from duty, according to district officials who spoke with McEntyre; however, it wasn’t clear if he was still receiving his salary amid fresh allegations of misconduct.
Following the incident, McEntyre said her daughter “really doesn’t even want to be in school,” but reluctantly went back to classes on May 9 after serving a three-day suspension.
McEntyre clarified that she doesn’t excuse her daughter’s aggressive behavior but said her main concern is the manner in which Brown handled the situation.
“I was mad, I was mad as ever,” McEntyre told the local outlet.
“The assistant principal intervened and grabbed her hair and her jacket, and he took his foot, and he kicked her, which I feel like that was uncalled for,” she said.
McEntyre stated that neither the school nor the district informed her about the actions Brown took in the heat of the moment.
McEntyre said her daughter told her what happened later that day, but she did not fully understand Brown’s apparent overreaction until after she reviewed a video of the brawl.
“This looks like she was literally being attacked,” the mother said. “And the way he did it and walked off it was like his whole demeanor, his whole body language was like, and he cannot say he did not do that on purpose. You purposely did that like you had a personal issue with her.”
It was the second major controversy at Southaven Middle School in less than a week after another student was charged with child exploitation, but the boy’s parents claim they were never notified by officials about his arrest at school.
In the second incident, a 12-year-old student is accused of receiving and distributing a nude photo from a classmate, which was shared electronically with other students, leading to the boy’s arrest on May 9.
The father claims his son’s rights were violated because police questioned him without his parents or a lawyer present in the room.
However, according to DeSoto County School District policy, a principal or school administrator can question students about school incidents “without limitations” as long as a school resource officer is present.
The policy also states that “parents will be contacted if the student is subsequently taken into custody or if the student is subject to disciplinary action,” according to Fox 13 in Southaven.
Legal experts said this case, in particular, was subject to the Mississippi code for youth rights in custody, which states that a child under arrest “may immediately telephone a parent or guardian,” but the statute is vague on when official police custody is established in a school setting.
