A video released last week has confused an eighth grade student of Kissimmee Middle School, Florida.

Devonta Griffith says resource officers are meant to protect students, but in the footage made public on Tuesday one of the cops at his school can be seen beating up another 13-year-old boy in the lobby in front of the kid’s mother.




A thrashing so severe, it left him with a sprained ankle and wrist.

“If an officer is doing that, how should I trust them? How should I know they will protect me instead of hurt me?”

A video was released last Tuesday showing Officer Mario Badia’s use of excessive force on a student while the boy’s mother, Alexis Richmond, stood only a few steps away.

The incident took place on May 8 when the cop pinned the teenager to the ground and twisted his arm for more than 40 seconds. The African-American boy had done nothing to provoke the attack.

Richmond describes Badia’s attitude as intimidating.

“He came in with such a hostile manner, like he was ready for war,” she says.

It all started when Richmond and her son had an argument at the school’s front desk. Badia decided to interfere and confront the teenager.

In the video he can be seen poking his finger in the boy’s face.

Next, in a completely unwarranted move, he grabs his victim’s face. As the young boy tries to get away, the cop pushes the student in the chest and grabs him by his shirt.

After putting him in a wristlock he lifted the boy off his feet and pinned him to the ground, then he twisted the student’s arm as he squirmed in pain.

After letting him go, Badia pushed him onto the front desk and continued to shout at him.
A lobby full of people observed this torture while Richmond screamed at him to stop.

“I felt so helpless,” she says recalling the incident.

The boy with a scrawny frame weighs only 84 pounds and was left devastated by the lopsided clash.

Up until late last week, Badia was still employed by the police. The department decided to fire him on Friday.




He had been placed on paid administrative leave following the incident.

Watch the video below: