Watch | US cop flips, drags student for refusing to leave math class

The United States Justice Department opened a civil rights investigation Tuesday after a deputy flipped a student backward in her desk and dragged her across the floor after she refused to leave her math class.Federal help was sought by Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott, who called what happened at Spring Valley High School in Columbia, South Carolina, “very disturbing” and placed the officer, Senior Deputy Ben Fields, on leave.The sheriff's department said no one was hurt, but the confrontation prompted outrage after it was recorded and shared online. During the moments posted online, Fields warns the girl to stand up or be forcibly removed. The officer then wraps a forearm around her neck, flips her and the desk backward onto the floor, and tosses her toward the front of the classroom, where he handcuffs her.