GULFPORT, Fla. — A 15-year-old girl claims she was brutally beaten by an officer on school grounds.
Maniya Sherriffe is a student at Boca Ciega High School. She says a Gulfport Police Department sergeant beat her after a fight with other students and left her with cuts and bruises.
"I was just scarred up my face was hurting. I didn't know what to do. I didn't feel safe," the teen said surrounded by family on Tuesday evening.
The family held a press conference with the National Action Network's Central Florida Chapter to put on pressure and get answers from the department. They're calling for an independent investigation and accountability.
"We are here today because injustice is here. We are here as a civil rights organization to say that we will not tolerate — that we are calling on number one: an independent investigation to be conducted. We also call for this officer's immediate suspension. To me, it seems as this is a common practice of this officer," Bryce Graham said.
Maniya says the incident happened back on Sept. 6 at school. Sheriffe says she got into an argument with four to five girls after gym class when one of them got mad Maniya and some friends laughed at their gym teacher's joke.
"It never got physical. It was verbal," Sherriffe said.
The teen says when things started calming down the officer pinned her against the wall and put her in handcuffs. She claims she was dragged into the media room in the library where there are no cameras.
"He slammed me and then I had hit my forehead on the divider of the door and cut my forehead open. Then as he was bringing me into the library, he slung me onto the ground. That's how I got cuts and bruises on my face and my shoulder," Sherriffe said.
The family says pictures taken immediately after the incident show how she looked after being taken out of the media room. Sherriffe's mom says the injuries could've been worse.
"My daughter's face should not look like this. According to the doctor, the mark on her cheek is going to be a scar," Destini Lewis said. "Due to the incident, she suffered a concussion. My whole thing is I'm glad she–it wasn't worse, but at the end of the day, this shouldn't have happened to her."
The family alleges the school never notified them anything was wrong. A student ran to Sherriffe's grandfather when he went to pick her up from school.
"When I walked up on my granddaughter she had blood coming down her forehead, bruises and she was scared. I asked the officers point blank, 'Did the girls do this?,' and they said, 'No.' They pointed to one sergeant and he said it happened when he brought her into the media room," Marvin Pinckney said.
Gulfport police won't comment on the incident saying they received a complaint but are prohibited by law from releasing any information until its investigation is complete.
10 Tampa Bay asked for a police report to see how the incident was recorded. They have yet to send it over. The Pinellas County School District is also declining to comment citing an open investigation.