A pair of 19-year-old high school students were arrested for allegedly assaulting a teacher — who was forced into the fetal position while suffering blows in the caught-on-camera beatdown — inside a Florida school Thursday.
Jayvis McClover and Roddrick McQueen went up to a male teacher at Dillard High School around 2 p.m. and threatened him before they launched a vicious attack on the victim, the Fort Lauderdale police said, according to reports.
The Broward County Public School teacher was punched in the face and head numerous times, leading the educator to crumple to the ground and go “in a fetal position attempting to guard himself against injury,” authorities said, according to ABC News.
Footage obtained by Local 10 shows one of the suspects on top of the teacher during the tussle.
As the two wrestled on the ground, other staff intervened to pull them apart, video shows.
After the educator got to his feet, he appeared to pull at one of his perps as security tried to tamper down the violence, the local station reported.
“All you saw were a crowd of kids and they jumped him,” one student told the Local 10.
The teacher suffered injuries to his face and reported back pain following the attack, ABC News reported.
The two teens were charged with battery on a public or private education employee.
Florida Board of Education member Daniel Foganholi Sr. called the attack on the teacher “beyond disgraceful.”
“No educator should fear for their safety while doing their job. Schools must be places of learning, not battlegrounds,” he said on social media.
“Safe schools should be a safe place for everyone — teachers, students, and staff alike. We need real solutions: stronger disciplinary policies, better security measures, and a culture that respects and protects our teachers.”
McClover and McQueen were released from custody after their court appearances, but ordered to stay clear of the teacher and school, Local 10 reported.