SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — Valhalla High School students and the community are reacting to a now viral video of a fight on campus that ended with a staff member's knee on a student’s neck.
That staff member, a campus supervisor, is on paid leave while the district investigates. It's unclear where the 14-year-old student is as of 6 p.m. Friday evening or how she's doing.
"It was a little aggressive. A big burly dude on a freshman, I heard she was a freshman. Either way, she's 14 to 18-years-old and that's a 200-pound dude and a smaller female," said Duncan Galvez, a senior at Valhalla High School.
Galvez says he saw the commotion surrounding the fight and now most students on campus have the cell phone video of the fight - and school staff's intervention in question.
"It looked a little violent the way it was handled,” Galvez said.
Tasha Williamson is a community advocate and activist. "They ended up on the ground and he was on top of one of them. I get you have to break up a fight, but it seemed a little violent. Maybe more staff could have been called in," said Williamson.
She says the video, at minimum, shows a lack of training.
"He was on top of her. The other gentlemen wasn't. The other gentleman picked the girl up, walked her over, calmly talked to her, she calmed down, she took deep breaths. This gentleman didn't do that. He stayed on top of her. He didn't let her go. She wanted him off of her."
Further than lack of training, Tasha says, the video illustrates racist overtones.
"They know how to treat their white children. They just don't know how to treat our Black children," said Williamson. "I want them to know from me as an activist. We want you to treat our children as if they were white because clearly there are racial disparities in treatment across this county including in the education system."
Grossmont Union High School District issued the following statement concerning the August 31 fight on campus.
"In light of events that have taken place in our country over the last two years, it's completely understandable that students and members of our school community are upset. We at the district are making sure Principal Frumas has all the resources she needs. We are deeply committed to doing everything in our power to ensure your child is learning in the safest environment possible."
Williamson says, there are ways to prevent incidents like this from happening going forward.
“They need better training, more access to services, bringing in community organizations who actually identify with the groups on your campus so it can improve the overall structure on your campus."
The NAACP San Diego Branch issued a statement regarding the video and incident saying in part, "It is long past time for something to be done. No more insincere statements, no more lip service, no more "training" without follow-through. There need to be CONSEQUENCES for violent racist behavior from people under color of authority.”
WATCH RELATED: San Diego's top stories for September 3, 2021, at 6 p.m.