A science teacher and student fight broke out in a classroom at Santa Monica High School between the teacher and a student who was allegedly dealing drugs on campus.
Mark Black is on administrative leave after wrestling a student to the ground who was openly distributing marijuana in class.
Black is the head wrestling coach at Santa Monica High, according to the school’s website, and he obviously knows a thing or two about a winning a fight. In the video you can see the teacher bring his knowledge of wrestling to the fight in order to bring the student to the ground and restrain him there.
According to CBS News , “Students say Black confronted the male teen on Friday morning for allegedly dealing marijuana in the classroom. The teen threw the first punch, and hit the coach in the face.”
The fight was captured on video by several witnesses and shared online. The footage shows Coach Black reportedly defending himself and wrestling the teen to the ground and restraining his legs.
In a letter to parents, Sandra Lyon, the superintendent of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District , said the altercation happened in a classroom Friday morning.
“A deeply disturbing incident involving a teacher and student occurred in a classroom at Santa Monica High School, resulting in the Santa Monica Police Department being called to the campus. A number of videos capturing at least a portion of the incident are circulating, and I can tell you that what I witnessed on one of those videos is utterly alarming,” Lyon wrote.
Lyon added, “Based on what I have viewed, the kind of physical restraint used by the teacher is unacceptable. I have placed the teacher on leave pending the outcome of an independent investigation.”
In the video, you can hear a student yelling: “Oh, what the f—” and “help him out.”
According to ABC News , “Students who witnessed the fight are supporting Black, saying the teacher was trying to confiscate something drug-related from the student.” Witnesses said the student punched Mr. Black in the face before the teacher became physical.
“What’s the teacher supposed to do? Sit here and let a student beat him up,” asked a student to KTLA News . “He just wrestled him to the ground and said ‘you’re not going anywhere.’”
Another student told My Fox LA , “The guy was selling drugs and the teacher told him to stop and he didn’t stop, So I guess they started fighting…and then he closed the door.”
The district called Santa Monica Police Department to the school to begin an independent investigation into the teacher and student fight .