A video shows the stark moments when a teacher was handcuffed after protesting a pay raise for a superintendent in a Louisiana school district.
During a public comment period of a school board meeting, middle-school language arts teacher Deyshia Hargrave was recognized.
"For a superintendent or any person in a position of leadership getting any type of raise, I feel like it's a slap in the face for teachers, cafeteria workers and any other support staff we have," Hargrave said.
She was gaveled out of order and then confronted by a police officer.
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In short order, she was handcuffed.
Her concern was evident.
"We work very hard with very little to maintain the salaries we have. I don't care if the performance targets are met – you're making our jobs even more difficult. We're meeting those goals, while someone in that position is getting a raise? It's a sad, sad day to be a teacher."
She continued: "When I first started teaching there was like 20 kids in a class and now there are 29 kids in a class, and we have not have been given raises. How are you going to take that money? It's basically taking it out of our pockets."
KATC-TV in Lafayette, Louisiana, obtained the video showing her being recognized by the board then calmly explaining her concerns.
Then a police officer confronts her and forces her out of the room.
Board members complained that the meeting was to discuss the superintendent's contract, not teacher pay. No details were immediately available on the superintendent's pay, benefits or raise.
See the reaction from the board and police officer:
When she voluntarily left the room, the officer jumped into action in the hallway, forcing Hargrave to the ground and handcuffing her.
She yells, "What are you doing?"
The officer, an Abbeville city marshal, demands she "stop resisting," and she states, "I am not, you just pushed me to the floor."
He then shoves her out the door.
The video continues with the officer holding Hargrave next to a police car and threatening those standing nearby, "Somebody else about to get arrested … public intimidation."
The London Daily Mail reported school officials said there would be no charges against the teacher, who works at Rene Rost Middle School in Kaplan, Louisiana.