A former Florida sheriff’s deputy is facing a battery charge after body camera footage showed him pulling a 13-year-old girl's hair and calling student onlookers “stupid little children.” “On January 30, 2020, our office did in fact file an Information charging Harry Reid, the former Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy accused of pulling a girl by the hair, with one count of Battery,” the Orange County state attorney’s office said in a statement emailed to Daily Kos on Feb. 20. “This is an open and active investigation which limits our ability to comment any further.”
Reid, formerly a school resource officer, was fired in November in the incident victimizing Wilmica Edmond, according to WFTV. Investigators told the news station that the deputy was responding to a fight between students at Westridge Middle School in Orlando when it spread to a nearby parking lot. "You're the one that started this **** at school," Reid reportedly said in video of the encounter.
Wilmica said at a press conference last week that she intended to file a civil suit against the former deputy. "I was like, ‘Why is he doing that ‘cause I didn't do anything wrong,'" she told media outlets. "I was scared."
Orange County Sheriff John Mina said at a news conference in November of last year that cellphone video of the incident led to the deputy's termination. “That deputy’s behavior and actions violated many policies, our standards, but more importantly, the visions and expectations I’ve set as sheriff and definitely will not be tolerated,” Mina said. “I want our deputy sheriffs to know that as well and I hope this sends a strong message not only to our community, but also to our deputy sheriffs.”