'I don't feel safe around cops'

Monday, December 2, 2019  

RAPID CITY – The slap heard round the world, or at least Indian Country, has caused quite the commotion in Rapid City, and the girl struck by the RCPD police officer has denied the charge of assault in juvenile court.

Since the late October incident in which videos have surfaced showing two 13-year-old girls from South Middle School engaged in a fight, the community has had a wide-range of opinions as to whether or not the officer had used excessive force when he struck one of the girls with an open palm heel strike on the left temple area of her head.

Despite the uproar the fight and strike had caused, one of the girls in the fight whom we will refer to as “G” for the sake of this article, had gone to juvenile court on Thursday, November 14 in Rapid City. The teen girl had several community members come to the hearing in support of her; many of the individuals felt like the officer used excessive force when he attempted to break up the fight.

Alicia Cook, 36, the mother of the young girl who made her court appearance, said her daughter is a good kid. Cook is raising three sons, along with G., and another girl she had taken custody of who belonged to her relative. The family has lived on the south side of Rapid City for the last six years.

G. has been attending South Middle School for the past two school years. She claims to love the school and has enjoyed her time there. While she has been at the school, she has had only one other incident involving another girl who wanted to fight G. last school year. Her children attend South Elementary School, South Middle School, and Central High School.

“She hasn’t been in trouble at all. There was a problem with another little girl last year, but I raised my kids to respect teachers and adults, and not to be fighting – to walk away,” she said. “If someone does try to fight her, I taught her how to defend herself. She’s just a good kid.”

Other than a few tardy days, G. makes it to school every day. Adjusting to the new school in the previous year was not easy. The mother and daughter claim other girls were trying to "start fights with her."

“This year she is really trying hard to stay away from all of that," Cook said.

The mother feels her child has been the victim of bullying this school year. She feels that the more G. has walked away from girls wanting to fight her, the more attention she was getting and the more bullying she was receiving. When the videos surfaced of the November 23 fight and subsequent officer’s involvement, Cook learned of the videos from her daughter. One of the videos was taken by G.’s friend during the altercation.

“When I watched it (fight video), it sent a shock through my body because of how the officer handled my daughter. Right then I knew that he was in the wrong. The way he handled the situation,” Cook said. “The school officer, his name is Nick, called me and told me to come to the school and that my daughter had gotten into a fight. I went from work and went there. They had my daughter in the office.”

The mother claims the school resource officer, a school staff member, and a paramedic were in the office with her daughter. “They were asking her questions, if she was hurt anywhere. She had a bloody nose, so they were asking to see if she was hurt. They asked where she got her bloody nose from and she (G.) said, ‘The officer hit me’.”

The officer G. was referring to was Officer Richard Holt of the Rapid City Police Department. According to the teen girl, Officer Holt had just happened to be driving by when the fight had occurred.

“What?! You f***ing hit my daughter?”, she claims she said the officer. “I was just so mad. I couldn’t believe he hit my daughter. He just looked at me and he walked out of the room.”

Contact Richie Richards at richie4175@gmail.com

Copyright permission Native Sun News Today

Native Sun News Today: Police officer strikes Native middle school student (November 6, 2019)