Justice for Taylor Bracey

School resource officers (SRO) are supposed to serve and protect our children. That’s their sole purpose and their presence should create safer schools.

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen this week in Kissimmee, Florida — near Orlando.

On Jan. 26, 2021, Deputy Ethan Fournier, an SRO for Liberty High School, brutally body-slammed Taylor Bracey, a 16-year-old Black girl. She even lost consciousness upon hitting the school’s hard concrete floor!

And instead of realizing the error of his ways and rendering medical aid, Deputy Fournier handcuffed her unconscious body!

Taylor, a Black child with a bright future, was unarmed and posed NO threat to Deputy Fournier. Why did he think it was okay to ruthlessly throw her against the hard ground?

Black students already have a hard time feeling safe. We do NOT need to add school resource officers to their list of daily fears. We must treat our next generation with respect and dignity. They deserve to learn in a safe, non-hostile environment, NOT to get beaten and traumatized by adult bullies like this deputy!

Unfortunately, this may be emblematic of a bigger problem. The Osceola Sheriff’s Office has been subject to scrutiny in recent years for arresting students for first-time offenses connected to fights, typically on misdemeanor battery charges. A recent study by the Carruthers Institute said they’ve had the fourth-most youth arrests in lieu of juvenile civil citations for “common youth misbehavior.”

There’s no excuse for Deputy Ethan Fournier’s overzealous behavior. He could have killed Taylor and we will not tolerate these actions in our schools. We must hold this SRO accountable!