Video captures fight at Hickman High
JANESE HEAVIN of the Tribune's staff
Hickman High School resource officer Mark Brotemarkle is under internal police investigation after a video recorded him throwing two female students to the floor in the school's upstairs common area, including a girl who was trying to help.
Diamond Thrower, a sophomore, was attempting to break up a fight between two other students during lunch on Wednesday when Brotemarkle pulled her away and threw her to the ground. Another student captured the incident on his digital camera, and a video has been posted online and sent to media outlets.
"We're quite concerned about the situation," Hickman Principal Mike Jeffers said. "We regret the incident happened to the young lady who tried to help."
The fight broke out between two female students in the middle of a crowd, Jeffers said. During what he called a "chaotic" situation, one administrator fell to the ground.
CLASS NOTES BLOG: Brotemarkle under investigation after video surfaces
That's when Diamond said she went to help. "Then all of a sudden I was thrown across the floor and in handcuffs," she told the Tribune this morning. "I feel like the reason it happened is because I'm black and there were black people there fighting. There were other white kids there, and they didn't get slammed."
Diamond went to the hospital on Wednesday afternoon for bruising and plans to go back today for pain along the right side of her back and neck.
Brotemarkle also threw another girl back down when she tried to get up from the ground, the video shows.
A student's mother, Deonna Ramey, said her daughter wasn't involved in the fight but was pushed. When she got scared and began crying, Brotemarkle "grabbed her and pulled her down the hall to the office," Ramey said.
It's not the first time Brotemarkle has displayed aggressive behavior toward students, said Demetria Stephens, mom of another sophomore who happened to be at Hickman when the fight broke out. She said she's also witnessed other fights at Hickman this year.
"I don't feel like my children are safe with him there," Stephens said. "Anytime he comes to a situation, he's in aggressive mode. The way he handles things is not acceptable."
Stephens had just signed her daughter in at the main office when the incident was happening on Wednesday. When her daughter, who is black, walked through the hallway, Brotemarkle approached her and demanded to know where why she was there. "He was getting ready to grab her," Stephens said. "If I hadn't been there, I think she would have had a bigger problem than she did."
Stephens filed a formal complaint with the police department and has collected 40 signatures from parents and students asking that Brotemarkle be removed from Hickman.
Columbia police Sgt. Joe Bernhard confirmed that the department is investigating Brotemarkle's actions, and Jeffers said school administrators are cooperating.
"We wish the girls had never gotten into a fight in the first place," Jeffers said. "The choice to fight in the middle of a crowded hallway causes a chain reaction. That's the unfortunate part. Had that decision not been made, none of this would have occurred."
Diamond, who was excited to try out for the basketball team, said she's not sure she wants to return to Hickman. "He ruined my future," she said. "I wanted to play basketball very bad. I always wanted to go to Hickman. I couldn't wait to get there, especially to play basketball. I don't want to go there anymore.
"It just replays in my head all the time, when I wake up and when I can't sleep because of the pain," Diamond said. "I wonder what else he could have done differently besides doing that to me. ... I got hurt because I did the right thing. I almost feel like crying."
Reach Janese Heavin at (573) 815-1705 or jheavin@columbiatribune.com.