Manatee County, Florida, Sheriff Rick Wells said a 12-year-old girl broke no laws by recording a school fight. The girl was arrested by one of his deputies, a school resource officer, and charged with felony battery and resisting arrest after the deputy grabbed her in an attempt to get her to give up her phone and erase the video at the direction of school officials. Video from the deputy’s bodycam shows school staff telling him the girl broke the law by recording employees breaking up the fight. The deputy expresses skepticism but doesn’t appear to contact his supervisor for advice. “He was basically going by what the principal and staff were telling him. He was not sure at this point what they were talking about, but they kept referring to the phone and a recording they wanted from the phone,” Wells said. The charges against the girl were dropped, and the sheriff’s office has since told deputies not to get involved in enforcing school policies. No word on whether the deputy who arrested the girl will face any discipline.
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