Dnigma Howard, a 16-year-old student in Chicago, is suing the city, the Board of Education, and two police officers — Johnnie Pierre and Sherry Tripp — after an incident where she was assaulted on camera and had her civil rights violated at Marshall High School surfaced online.
Howard was initially charged with two felony counts of battery when one video that only showed her kicking officers from the ground made its way onto Facebook, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
However, a second video appears to show the officers grabbing Howard before she is dragged down the steps by her leg. She also has an arm “forcefully pressed” into her neck and was later punched in the face and the chest.
You can see the shocking video below.
The officers also used a stun gun on Howard, as seen in another video.
The two officers were removed from the school. The two officers were placed on medical leave and will be reassigned following an independent investigation and review.
“CPS strives to create safe and supportive learning environments for all students, and this disturbing incident has absolutely no place in our schools,” Chicago Public Schools said in a statement, via ABC 7.
“To ensure a thorough review of this situation is conducted, we are asking the district’s Office of the Inspector General to review the matter and we will fully support the ongoing investigation by the City’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability.”
Howard has also switched schools since the incident occurred. While she was at Marshall High School, however, she was enrolled in an “Individual Education Program based on an emotional disability” because she was known to have “difficulty regulating her emotions.”
That is all the information that is available at this time. This article will be updated with new and relevant information should it become available at any time. If there is anything that we missed, please feel free to send an email to editor@teamcoed.com and we will respond as soon as possible.
