Video of an altercation between a female university police officer and a young woman has gone viral as social media users argued about who was responsible for a scuffle in which both women ended up grabbing each other by the hair. According to Humboldt State University Police, officers pulled over a vehicle after seeing a woman in it standing up through the sunroof and discovered that “several of the occupants of the vehicle were intoxicated and underage.” In the video, an occupant of the car can be seen filming officer Janelle Jackson arguing with Samantha Alonso Luna, 20, as the officer suggests that Alonso Luna had lied about her last name.
“I’m Mexican, I have two last names,” she told the officer, disbelieving, as the two began to shout over each other.
As the argument escalated, Jackson told Alonso Luna to get out of the car and then aggressively pulled her out of the vehicle just seconds after Alonso Luna said she wouldn’t move. The struggle continued out of the car, as multiple officers descended on the young woman in an effort to restrain her. As the confrontation dragged on, Jackson and Alonso Luna appeared to both have each other by the hair.
“Cut my hair,” Jackson tells another officer in the video. “Seriously, cut my hair. Cut my hair. I don’t care.”
An officer eventually complies with Jackson’s request, cutting off the officer’s hair and freeing her in the process. Video clips of the incident have racked up more than a million views on social media over just a few days.
Alfonso Luna shared the videos to Facebook, acknowledging that her friend had stuck her head out of the sun roof, but denying police claims that she and her friends were intoxicated. In her post, she said that the incident in the video began after she asked for information about how to bail out her friend. The officer, she said, began acting aggressively toward her, accusing her of lying about her last name and “seeking a reaction out of me when she should have been de-escalating the situation.”
— jay (@drxwrebel) 19 June 2018
In a statement, Humboldt State University Police chief said that he was “aware” of the videos and that other videos, which had not been released on social media, showed a more complete picture of the incident. He added that they were “still investigating” the case. Alonso Luna has reportedly been charged with resisting arrest, battery on a police officer, public intoxication, and providing false identification to a police officer.