High school security guard caught beating student in wheelchair goes on trial

A high school security guard is currently on trial for criminal charges stemming from a beating of a student in a wheelchair, which was caught on video.

The video shows the guard, Marchell Mitchell, pulling Francisco Martinez, now 18, out of his wheelchair at Oakland High School last year, kicking him and throwing his chair on top of him. The teen has cerebral palsy, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

Mitchell was fired by the school district last May.

"I just want to see justice happen, because I don't think it's fair for this event to occur on a school day, in a school where I'm supposed to be coming in safe and not be brutalized and thrown around like an animal," Martinez told ABC News last year.

The incident started when Mitchell took hold of Martinez' chair and started pushing him to a classroom. Martinez told the guard he had a teacher's permission to be out of class, the Mercury News reports. But Mitchell continued pushing his chair, first to class then when things got violent, to the principal's office.

Mitchell's lawyer told jurors that Martinez was a gang member and was making threats and racial slurs. Martinez said he is not a part of any gang.

Photographs of Martinez after the incident show bruises on the teen's throat and face from the incident. In the video, Mitchell can be see pounding Martinez from behind as he pushes Martinez' wheelchair down a hallway. After Martinez falls on the floor, Mitchell handcuffs him.

Video from an elevator a few minutes later shows Mitchell roughly dumping Martinez out of his wheelchair and kicking him.

Surveillance video has been uploaded to YouTube and can be seen below: