Shocking moment assistant principal appears to pin a 15-year-old student to the floor at a Rhode Island high school

Shocking video filmed Monday at Central High School in Providence appears to show assistant principal Thomas Bacon pinning a student to the ground
In the background of the short video someone yells 'Tell him to get off!' with a group of students gathered around the scuffle
The student was charged with two counts of simple assault, meanwhile Bacon was put on administrative leave but was not charged

Published: 04:02 GMT, 26 October 2017 | Updated: 08:08 GMT, 26 October 2017

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An assistant principal has been place on leave in Rhode Island after a disturbing video surfaced of him appearing to pin a student to the floor in the school's cafeteria.

Thomas E. Bacon, an assistant principal at Central High School, is seen in video being circulated on social media with a male student underneath him as students surround them. In the background one person can be heard loudly yelling: 'Tell him to get off!'

The 15-year-old student Amare Pemberton, was charged with two counts of simple assault after the incident on Monday. No charges have been filed against Bacon.

In the video it appears assistant principal Thomas Bacon has the student pinned to the ground

Bacon told police, according to the Providence Journal, that he was attempting to escort Amare from the cafeteria after he had cut in line and that he then started pushing his way past other students.

Bacon told police: 'I tried to gently guide him, he then dropped his bag and raised his clenched fists.' He also told police a teacher, Michael Scott, was also involved, and was trying to guide Amare out of the cafeteria as well.

The Journal reports that according to the police report, Bacon said the student 'began throwing punches and elbows toward Mr. Scott and myself and yelling, 'Touch me again boy... you'll be face down... I'll clock you.'

Bacon told the police that he tried to restrain the student but that the student continued to resist and they both fell to the floor.

However Amare's mother, Jennifer Pemberton said Bacon kept grabbing her son's arm.

'The next thing you know, he tackled him,' Jennifer said, referring to Bacon. 'He was choking my son. He put a knee on my son's chest. In the video, everyone can see my son wasn't being combative.'

Jennifer acknowledges, however, that her son struck Bacon in an attempt to get the principal off of him.

Two students from from Central High School told a version of the events similar to Amare's.

A group gathered around the altercation with someone heard yelling in the background 'Tell him to get off!'

While the student was charged in the incident, Bacon was not. However the assistant principal has been put on administrative leave

They said said Bacon grabbed the student's bag while Amare yelled, 'Let me go', according to the Journal.

Bacon, they said, then grabbed Amare, threw him to the ground and put his knees on Amare's chest.

'Mr. Bacon was getting in his face,' one student claimed.

Amare's mother says she took him to the hospital later after her son complained of chest pains. She also says she is upset that charges were brought against her son.

'They charged my son with simple assault and he shouldn't be charged,' she said. 'I didn't expect my son to get assaulted when I sent him to school Monday. Now you're telling me that he was attacked by someone who was supposed to be there to help him?'

The school district released a statement regarding the incident.

'Public Schools were alarmed and dismayed by the physical altercation in the cafeteria at Central High School on Monday involving a student and an assistant principal,' it read. 'The district immediately contacted the police and put the assistant principal on administrative leave, pending a personnel review. Additionally, the school district has explicitly requested that police investigate the incident in its entirety.'