Lake County

Demonstrators gather at school board meeting to protest use of Taser on Eustis High School student

LAKE COUNTY — A small group is protesting at the Lake County School District to pull school resource officers out of school.

They gathered after a video of an officer using a Taser on a Eustis High School student went viral last month.

The protest began about an hour ahead of Monday’s school board meeting and eventually moved inside.

Many of the protesters aren’t local and drove from Miami. They said the conversation shouldn’t be about if the girl did wrong but, instead, why a student was arrested and shocked with a Taser in school.

READ: School resource officer who used Taser on Eustis High School student not facing discipline, student arrested

A group of about 15 people gathered and chanted starting at 4:45 p.m. today.

The Florida Student Power Network and the Black Girls Matter Coalition put together the demonstration.

Before being stunned with the Taser, the girl is seen in the video hitting the deputy. The Sheriff’s Office reported she was trying to fight a boy.

READ: FDLE to investigate video of deputy slamming Liberty High School student to ground, sheriff says

The officer was cleared of any wrongdoing, but the girl was charged with a crime.

The protesters said if the school resource officer wasn’t there, the child would not have been stunned with the Taser.

The group said that, instead of facing charges, the district should have employed restorative justice techniques to find out what led up to the confrontation and teach the girl how to better handle conflict.

Cierra Putman

Cierra Putman, WFTV.com

Cierra Putman flew south to join Eyewitness News in July 2016.

Adam Poulisse, WFTV.com

Adam Poulisse joined WFTV in November 2019.