ABBEVILLE, La. (AP) - The Latest on the arrest of a Louisiana teacher who questioned salaries at a school board meeting (all times local):
5:45 p.m.
The deputy city marshal who roughly handcuffed a Louisiana teacher in a video-recorded arrest was described by another teacher as a helpful and well-liked officer.
Alicia LaSalle is a second-year teacher at the school where marshal Reggie Hilts serves as a resource officer. LaSalle says Hilts is on hand to stop altercations or other problems among students. She adds that Hilts has a good relationship with students and teachers.
LaSalle was at a rally Thursday for Deyshia Hargrave, the teacher arrested Monday night after she questioned the superintendent’s salary at a Vermilion Parish School Board meeting. LaSalle stressed that she supports Hargrave and her efforts to get support for teachers from the board.
She did not witness Monday’s incident or see what prompted the arrest.
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4 p.m.
The Louisiana teacher who was arrested after questioning her superintendent’s pay raise at a school board meeting says the board’s president should resign.
Deyshia Hargrave, whose removal in handcuffs sparked internet outrage, made the remarks to The Associated Press before a Thursday rally of her supporters in the city of Abbeville. Supporters accompanied her wearing T-shirts with the words: “Stand by Deyshia.”
Hargrave says Reggie Hilts, the deputy city marshal who arrested her at the Vermilion Parish School Board “needs more training.” But she stopped short of saying he should lose his job.
Hargrave was ejected after School Board President Anthony Fontana tried to silence her questioning the superintendent’s raise when teacher salaries haven’t been increased in 10 years.
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12 p.m.
The law officer who handcuffed and arrested a Louisiana teacher in videos that sparked Internet outrage was a defendant in a lawsuit alleging excessive force in 2011.
Reggie Hilts, now a marshal in Abbeville, was a police officer in the city of Scott when the incident occurred. He and another officer were accused in a federal lawsuit of slamming an ailing 62-year-old man’s head on a concrete slab during an arrest.
The officers denied excessive force was used. They said the man was uncooperative and resisted arrest after city crews were dispatched to cut grass and weeds on his property.
The suit, filed in 2012, was settled in 2016. The Scott police chief said Hilts left the department in November 2011 for reasons having nothing to do with the incident.
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8 a.m.
The Louisiana teacher arrested after she spoke out about teacher pay at a school board meeting says she hopes the ordeal prompts others to get more involved in education.
In an interview that aired Thursday morning on NBC, Deshia Hargrave said it’s sad that a woman “has to be forcibly, violently removed” from a school board meeting “for people to start caring.”
Hargrave said she hopes teachers and others outside of schools become more involved in education.
Vermilion Parish Schools Superintendent Jerome Puyau told NBC he doesn’t support his employees being arrested but added that “a person has to follow the rules.”
Hargrave also said in the interview that she wants an apology.
Hargrave returned to the classroom Wednesday. A local prosecutor says he won’t pursue charges against her.
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12:15 a.m.
The Louisiana teacher whose widely viewed arrest sparked online outrage has returned to work while fallout from the incident rages on.
Gov. John Bel Edwards said he saw nothing on videos of Deshia Hargrave’s arrest that warranted her rough treatment. Meanwhile, the superintendent of Vermilion Parish Schools says he, his staff and his family have received death threats over the incident.
Hargrave returned to the classroom Wednesday. A local prosecutor says he won’t pursue charges against her. Hargrave says she is appalled at her treatment and grateful for support from students, parents and others.
A rally of support for the teacher was planned Thursday afternoon.
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