BEAUMONT, Texas — A Beaumont mother was indicted on a felony injury to a child charge this week after a viral video taken at a Beaumont school circulated in November. In the video, a woman authorities identify as Brittanie Thomas, is seen hitting her child with a belt.
Thomas was arrested Thursday during a court hearing in 317th Civil District Court, Judge Larry Thorne's courtroom, according to 12News' partner the Beaumont Enterprise.
The Beaumont Enterprise reports Thomas wasn't allowed to stay in the courtroom during the hearing on Thursday. Thomas could be heard screaming in an area outside the courtroom.
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services previously confirmed that four children have been removed from the home of the 30-year-old mother seen in a viral video hitting one of her sons with a belt at school.
A fifth child, who is a year old, and currently staying in Houston will also be taken into the custody of Family and Protective Services according to a spokesperson for the agency.
DFPS and BISD police have been investigating the incident at Homer Drive Elementary School.
The video posted on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter has since been removed from all three sites but not before more than a million people watched it.
12News viewed the video before it was removed. We have chosen not to post the video to protect the child.
The video shows a mom on the school's campus clearly looking for her son. She locates him in the cafeteria and is seen pulling him by the collar to a courtyard outside.
The video shows her hitting the boy with a belt several times. Through tears, the boy is forced to apologize to a woman who appears to be his teacher as he is hit with the belt.
MORE | See indictment document
The woman is seen cursing at the boy and using the n-word multiple times.
The woman and her friend are both seen in the video wearing school visitor badges. It's unclear who is recording the incident.
This is a developing story. Stay with 12News for updates as we learn more.
RELATED: Beaumont ISD sees packed house for discipline forum after viral video incident at Homer Drive
RELATED: Five kids will be removed from custody of mother seen in viral video hitting son with belt at school