A viral video appears to show an Arizona college cheerleader being forcefully taken to the ground and struck by police after she allegedly intervened in another person’s arrest.
Arizona State University senior Eryn Bonner was charged with two misdemeanors in Tempe last week, following the release of footage that appears to show officers leaving her bruised during a July arrest, according to the Tempe Police Department and ABC15.
Bonner, who is a member of ASU’s Stunt team, was recorded in the early hours of July 19 approaching officers again as they arrested another person. Police had reportedly instructed her to move back.
“Let him go, let him go,” Bonner can be heard shouting shortly before the confrontation escalated.
The video shows an officer pushing the college student to the ground.
Tempe police allege that Bonner punched an officer several times, ABC15 reported.
Body-camera footage included in the clip shows the officer throwing Bonner onto a bicycle before restraining her. The officer appears to strike her as another officer arrives and places her in handcuffs.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office declined to pursue felony charges against Bonner. Police told the outlet they would not resubmit the felony case.
Bonner now faces two misdemeanor counts: disorderly conduct and hindering or interfering with police, a Tempe Police Department spokesperson told The Post.
In a statement released to the outlet, Bonner’s family sharply criticized the officer’s actions and said their daughter was injured by “someone entrusted to protect and serve our community.”
“There are no words to fully describe the heartbreak of watching our daughter being hurt by someone entrusted to protect and serve our community,” the Bonner family said.
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“The hardest thing is seeing the pain and sadness in her eyes that we cannot take away,” the statement continued. “Expecting public servants to live up to the highest standards of their profession is not an act of animosity toward those who serve with honor.”
“Rather, it is essential to preserving public trust and upholding the integrity and legitimacy of our institutions. We respectfully ask for your prayers and support as our daughter and our family continue to heal.”
Benjamin Taylor, the attorney representing the Bonner family, has called for the officer to be fired and accused him of touching the student inappropriately.
“This was very extreme, very excessive and there was no need for double pushes, jumping on top and multiple strikes,” Taylor said. He added that the city of Tempe would be “very vindictive” if it tried to pursue the charges again after reviewing the officer’s conduct in the video.
“If you look at the end of the video, there’s some odd touching at the end of the video which is very concerning,” he said. “At the end you see his hand go on her buttocks which is very odd in this situation.”
Josh Logan, a former Chandler police officer, said the use of force could be justified if the officer’s account that Bonner punched him is accurate.
“If you reach that level of active aggression, you’re within policy to perform closed fist strikes to the face,” Logan told the outlet.
However, Logan, who founded Guardian Training and Consulting, said parts of the footage raised concerns, including the brief moment when Bonner was thrown onto a bicycle.
“There’s so many dangerous things on that bicycle that can cut and scrape. I have scars from cogwheels to chains and everything in between. It appears that she’s trying to move her off the bike and that happens in a split second in a very chaotic scene, and then they take her into custody and go from there,” Logan said.
The Tempe Police Department told The Post an internal investigation into the incident is underway
Cops said in a separate statement to ABC15 that they are probing the incident and take “every allegation of officer misconduct seriously.”
“Consistent with our policies, this incident is currently under administrative review. The video of the incident, along with all other available evidence, will be carefully evaluated as part of that process,” the department told the outlet.
