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Robert Long: Teacher Of Class Where Student Was Assaulted By Cop Suffers Backlash On Social Media

By Meaghan Ellis
Published on: 16:48 PST, Oct 30, 2015

Robert Long. He’s a person many social media users have not heard much about, yet he was involved in one of the most intricate reports of the week — the viral video capturing a cop assaulting a 16-year-old black girl. By now, everyone in America with an Internet connection has probably seen the riveting classroom video, which captures a student being assaulted and body slammed by a former Spring Valley High School resource officer, Ben Fields.

Almost immediately after the video surfaced online, it went viral, and it didn’t take long before the cop in the video was identified, but Robert Long has not been mentioned. Since most people have only focused on the footage while arguing about whether the cop used excessive force, the series of events that led to the incident have not been widely discussed.

Now that the media firestorm is dissolving, other questions and concerns are being expressed. The looming question now pertains to Robert Long. But who exactly is he? According to the Daily Mail, he’s the teacher of the mathematics class where the video was filmed, and the injured girl is his student. Social media users are now asking why Long was unable to control his class.

Although it’s no secret many teachers around the country now face an uphill battle in classrooms with seemingly difficult and unruly students, surprisingly, many social media users have attacked the teacher citing his inability to control his class. Since the girl simply refused to give up her cell phone, many social media users are arguing that the teacher’s reason for even contacting administration was frivolous. Now, Robert Long is being trolled on social media.

It all started when Aaron Johnson, one of the students in the classroom, took to Twitter with details about the incident, prior to the assault being filmed. Surprisingly, Johnson claims many of his classmates still do not know what the girl did wrong. She was reportedly a new student in the school and had not been deemed a troublemaker. She’d taken her phone out during class and refused to give it to the teacher when he asked. When she refused, he demanded that she leave the classroom and when she declined, he called for administrative re-enforcement. While her refusal to comply with the teacher’s request was a form of misbehavior, Johnson and many others still insist her actions did not merit the treatment she endured.

Here’s the details from Johnson’s tweets:

Another unnamed student, who was also in the classroom when the altercation occurred, shared a similar account of what happened. Both students claim they were unaware of what she did to justify the cop’s use of physical force.

“I was here and nobody even knew what she did when he grabbed her that’s how f**** up it was.”

Almost immediately after the details were tweeted, the students’ accounts sparked a big debate and the questions about Robert Long came pouring in. However, questions aren’t all that have been tweeted. He’s also being criticized for his presumed inability to maintain control of his class and how he allowed the girl to be assaulted. Twitter users have had no reservations about voicing their opinions of Long.

Here are some of the tweets:

After the incident was investigated by the Richland County Sheriff’s Department, it was determined that Fields violated the department’s policies with his use of excessive force. The footage ultimately led to his termination from the department.

Do you think the teacher made the right decision by contacting an administrator or resource officer to intervene on his behalf? Share your thoughts.

[Image(s) via YouTube Screen Capture]

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