Brickbat: Mark It Down

An Illinois police officer has been charged with aggravated battery and official misconduct for attacking a student while working off-duty as a security guard at West Proviso High School in Hillside. Prosecutors say Eligah Skinner barged into a classroom and ordered the student to stop writing on a whiteboard. The student had permission from the teacher to write on the board, which he tried to explain to Skinner. But Skinner threw a deflated dodgeball, a bottle of lotion, and a water bottle at the student, hitting him with all three. Skinner knocked a marker out of the student's hand and attempted to grab another marker from him. Officials say he then grabbed the student, lifted him from his chair and struck him in the chest with both hands. Skinner then threw the student onto a table, into desks and finally to the ground, where he put his knee on the boy's chest and his hands on the boy's torso and neck.