Terrifying video from a California high school football game went viral over the weekend, shocking viewers. The clip shows a chaotic scene during the game at Victor Valley High School in Victorville, on Friday night. Police were called to the scene for a disturbance around 6:30 p.m.
When they arrived, several individuals were reportedly involved in a brawl, and deputies used pepper balls to try and disperse the crowd. But it was what happened next that caused ire.
Video appears to show a deputy throwing 16-year-old Faith Jeffers to the ground. The force is so powerful that according to her mother, Priscilla Jeffers, she is now hospitalized with spinal injuries. A news release from police claims the teen grabbed the pepper ball launcher and, "A deputy pulled the female away causing her to land on the ground."
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Police say it was a large-scale brawl.
According to a release from the Victorville Police Department, deputies arrived at Victor Valley High School during the football game and found "multiple parties involved in the fight." The release stated that a 16-year-old male, identified by KTLA as Anthony Smiler, and a 16-year-old female, later identified by family as Faith Jeffers, interacted with deputies.
Smiler allegedly struck an officer in the face, and Faith Jeffers reportedly tried to take the pepper ball launcher from a deputy. The altercation was all caught on camera. Smiler was arrested and booked in High Desert Juvenile Hall.
Video footage from the Friday night incident is difficult to watch.
The clip shows a deputy violently tossing Faith Jeffers to the ground. Her body bounces, and her head hits the concrete. Witnesses rush to her side to see if she is OK. Priscilla Jeffers told KTLA her daughter was being bullied by a girl from another school who allegedly showed up at Victor Valley High School Friday night, and that's how the original fight started. Smiler's mother, Kelani Lunch, told the news station the deputy is at fault.
"He attacked my son first. He was in the wrong and used aggressive force on a 16-year-old. When I called, they told me they couldn't tell me whether he was booked in there or not so I need to know where my son is," she said.
Priscilla Jeffers was at the game at the time of the brawl.
The shocked mother told KTLA she was in attendance, but had no idea that her daughter was allegedly involved in the fight.
"It looked like he was just tossing a rag or a sweater on the floor until my other daughter said, 'Mom, that's Faith!'" she recalled. "I couldn't believe it." She says that what the deputy did to her daughter was police brutality and she didn't deserve it. The mother wants justice for her daughter.
Not everyone thinks that Faith Jeffers is a victim.
Marissa Rosas posted a video of the incident on her Facebook page and it received mixed reactions. Many people said they want justice for Faith Jeffers.
"This is beyond unacceptable… Victorville police are very unprofessional and very aggressive when it comes to females," a friend commented. "This is truly sad that this little girl had to go through something soo traumatic. They are supposed to be there to protect the kids not harm them."
"He needs to be fired immediately and placed under the jail," someone suggested. "He clearly don't know how to police."
But others suggested the teen started the problems.
"Once she grabbed a defense weapon from the police, she became responsible for the outcome," a follower wrote. "If that weapon would have been a gun and she shot the police with it, I'm sure you wouldn't be so upset. Police had the right to defend themselves in any way necessary when your daughter grabbed their weapon. Hopefully, this becomes a lesson learned for anyone grabbing a police officers weapon. BTW, when she grabbed his weapon, legally, he could have simply shot her and you would be mourning her death."
Others thought that Faith was in the wrong.
"Ur daughter needs to take accountability and u need to accept she [expletive] up stop enabling kids to do what they want when they want I do not see anything wrong with this case other then ur daughter involved in a incident she should have stepped away and as far as u is concerned u should be a better parent and I Alex wrote this not David," someone wrote.
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Protestors gathered demanding justice for Faith Jeffers.
Victor Valley News reported protestors gathered near the police station on Palmdale Road. During what was as a peaceful protest, an altercation began.
"The altercation escalated into physical fights and when deputies arrived on scene they started detaining people that were possibly involved," VVNG reported. "Pepper spray and other less than lethal force was used by police to disperse the crowd, several people were detained and placed into back of patrol units. After the incident, protestors continued to the front of the station on Amargosa Road where they continued the protest."
Friday night's incident is under investigation. Anyone with information should contact the Victorville Police Department at 760-241-2911 or Sheriff's Dispatch at 760-956-5001. Anonymous tips are welcomed on the We-Tip Hotline at 1-800-78CRIME (27463).
