Nevada police officer slaps police for filming students and kneels on him

School police officer v Las Vegas was caught on cellphone last week slamming a high school student to the ground and pinning him under the knee, prompting an investigation and repeated calls from Nevada activists who want to see the police removed from schools and more funding for students.

The Clark County School District Police Department said the Feb. 9 encounter outside Durango High School in suburban Las Vegas happened while officers were investigating a report of a gunshot near the campus, but school officials have not released additional information, including whether the weapon was found. .

County Police Chief Mike Blackeye said in a statement Wednesday that the officer had been reassigned pending the outcome of an investigation into his actions, and Superintendent Jesus Jara said he had called for a “complete review” of the police department’s use-of-force policy. .

The department has not released body or dash cam video of the incident, nor has it released the officer’s name. But the local chapter of the NAACP identified the officer as Lt. Jason Elfberg in a statement Wednesday calling for the officer’s dismissal.

“The video that went around the Internet made my stomach turn,” said Quentin Savwoir, president of the Las Vegas branch of the NAACP. “Our scholars deserve to be safe and free from threats of violence from those entrusted to protect them.”

More than 50 people protested outside the Clark County School District administration building Friday night demanding school police reform and further disciplinary action against Elfberg and other officers. Demonstrators chanted “racist Jason must be destroyed” and carried placards denouncing systemic racism.

Elfberg’s lawyer, Adam Levineconfirmed his client’s involvement in the meeting and told The Associated Press he was confident the Elfberg investigation would clear up any wrongdoing.

“The worst thing anyone can do is pre-judge us before the investigation is complete,” Levine said, urging the public to “go through the full investigative process.”

The school district and its police department did not respond to The Associated Press’ requests for additional information, including how long Elfberg has been employed and whether he has a disciplinary record.

Public posts on the police Facebook page show Elfberg was promoted from sergeant to lieutenant last month.

A video circulating on social media begins with several county police officers detaining two students while another student is walking, using their cell phones to record Elfberg yelling at the student, “You want the next one, dude?”

The student steps back and drops his phone before Elfberg is seen pushing it to the ground next to the patrol car, its lights flashing red and blue. In the background, students can be heard yelling at the officer, “You can’t have him on the floor like that!”

The officer kneels on the student’s back as he lies face down on the pavement, his knee remaining there until the video ends about 30 seconds later. At one point, the student can be heard asking his friends to call his mother.

The roughly minute-long video of the meeting has been viewed thousands of times on Twitter, and one of several posts circulating the video has been viewed about 50,000 times.

Student Deon Wallace told FOX5 he was handcuffed by police for walking outside the high school and watched as his friend was slammed to the ground. He said the way the officer held his friend, who is black, with his knee reminded him of the 2020 murder. George Floyd.

Floyd, a black man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer kneeled him to the ground for nearly 10 minutes, repeatedly screamed, “I can’t breathe.” Floyd’s death has sparked a national conversation, including in Nevada, about police reform and alternatives to policing, such as “restorative justice” programs that are said to focus on conflict resolution.

Less than two years after Floyd’s death, Clark County school district leaders announced they would take a tougher stance on fights and physical altercations, including expulsion. Some have blamed the increase in violence on a restorative justice approach.

Some Las Vegas students have hired the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada to help with possible future litigation.

“The police response here was so extreme,” said West Juhl, a spokesman for the ACLU. “We’re just coming off the heels of one of the best examples of the need for police accountability in Memphis, and here we have adult police officers assaulting children.”

Memphis police were caught on video fatally beating a black man, Tiro Nichols, after a traffic stop in January. Authorities later revealed there was no reason for the stop. Five officers were fired and charged with second-degree murder.

Juhl praised the Las Vegas students for continuing to film an encounter with police last week — even after they witnessed one of their friends hit the ground when he pointed the camera at the officers.

“It’s so exciting to watch the video and have such a strong reaction because they’re kids,” Juhl said, “and mix that with that feeling of, ‘Thank God, they got that on video.'”

The school district is the fifth largest in the US with approximately 300,000 students. Its police department has nearly 200 sworn officers, who have the authority to make arrests and issue traffic citations.

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Associated Press reporter Ty O’Neil in Las Vegas contributed.