These were the explosive ingredients for a physical confrontation caught on video last week at Fargo South High School, a video that police maintain didn’t capture some crucial portions of the exchange.

The video, taken by a bystander and shared widely on Facebook, shows the student refusing to go to the principal’s office after being told to pull up his sagging pants. A scuffle ensues, and it ends with the officer taking the teen to the floor and handcuffing him – a use of force that angered the teen’s mother.

For interim police Chief David Todd, the case isn’t about a dress-code violation. It’s about the student’s disruptive behavior which, Todd said, rose to a criminal level and forced the officer to act to keep the situation under control.

“Unfortunately, this particular student, for whatever reason, made some bad decisions and turned something very minor into something a little more serious,” Todd said.

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The clash between the school resource officer, Wes Libner, and the student, Markell Gray, happened at lunchtime on Nov. 25. Gray and another student were walking down a hall when Libner and an assistant principal told them to pull up their pants, Todd said.

The two students became confrontational, so the assistant principal ordered them to the principal’s office. One student complied, while Gray refused, the chief said.

Todd said that when Libner, who is white, attempted to take Gray, who is black, to the office, Gray tried to incite other students by yelling “Michael Brown” and “Ferguson,” referencing the fatal police shooting of an unarmed 18-year-old black man in a St. Louis suburb in August.

Todd said Gray then went chest-to-chest with Libner, got in his face and said, “(Expletive) you. What the (expletive) are you going to do about it?”

This part of the encounter, which wasn’t filmed, made Libner feel threatened, the chief said.

The footage begins later with Gray trying to walk past Libner. “At some point, the school resource officer goes hands on, and then the push and pull starts to happen,” Todd said.

Holding Gray’s arm, Libner can be heard saying, “This does not need to turn into a situation.” Eventually, the officer subdued Gray by taking him to the floor.

Todd said he believes Libner’s actions were appropriate. “If we see thug-like behavior starting to happen, we’re going to meet that behavior head on, and we’re going to address it,” he told WDAY.

Asked what he meant by “thug-like behavior,” Todd told The Forum, “I’m not talking about anything that’s racial. I’m not talking about pants. I’m talking about behavior where you’re trying to intimidate people or bully people, whether it’s fellow students, whether it’s staff, whether it’s challenging or trying to intimidate a police officer.”

Gray’s mother, Tasha Navy, told WDAY that she’s upset over how her son was treated. “I just feel like they were using a lot of force with my son,” she said. “He’s a kid and sometimes kids don’t listen.”

Todd noted that Navy, who’s facing felony drug charges in Cass County, has an outstanding warrant for her arrest and has not filed a formal complaint with the police department.

The chief said Gray was not hurt in the scuffle. The teen was charged in juvenile court with two misdemeanors: disruption in a school and resisting a police officer. He was expected to be released from the Cass County Juvenile Detention Center on Monday.

Superintendent Jeff Schatz said it’s rare for students to be arrested at Fargo’s public schools. He said that in general, he supports the work of administrators and school resource officers who have to use their best judgment in cases like this.

School resource officers are stationed on-site at each of Fargo’s public high schools, both to patrol and to build trust and relationships with students.

As for sagging pants, Schatz said the school district’s dress code requires students to wear clothes that fit properly. He said it’s a rule that each school can interpret for itself.

“Our administrators and teachers are always evaluating whether or not something’s appropriate or inappropriate,” he said.