‘Let him go, let him go’: Video shows a Tempe officer pushing an ASU student to the ground, and police say she punched an officer multiple times

An Arizona State University senior is facing two misdemeanor charges over a July arrest in Tempe, Arizona, that was filmed and later spread online. According to Fox News, 21-year-old Eryn Bonner, a member of the school’s stunt team, faces counts of disorderly conduct and of hindering or interfering with police. Her attorney says the officers did not try to calm things down.

The confrontation took place at about 1:45 a.m. on July 19, along Mill Avenue. Video shows several officers on bikes detaining a man by the sidewalk when Bonner steps in and can be heard yelling “Let him go! Let him go!” The footage shows an officer pushing her down, and she ends up pressed against a bicycle. She was left with bruises on her face.

Police records lay out the night differently. They say she tried to haul an officer off while he worked to stop a fight, was told over and over to step back, and went down when she was shoved after she began interfering again. Police say she then struck the officer’s face, on the left, five or six times while he worked to restrain her, and he hit her once. His injuries, per those records, include a cut about 3 to 4 inches long on his forearm, scrapes on his wrist and pain in his face.

Prosecutors passed on felony counts

Tempe police first recommended felony counts, including aggravated assault and resisting arrest, but the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office chose not to pursue them. The two misdemeanors now sit with Tempe’s city court. Attorney Benjamin Taylor says county prosecutors had found “no reasonable likelihood of conviction,” and he describes himself as extremely disappointed that the city went ahead.

Arizona’s disorderly conduct law, Arizona Revised Statutes 13-2904, covers “fighting, violent or seriously disruptive behavior” when someone acts with the aim of disturbing the peace or knowing that it will. Offenses under that part of the law are class 1 misdemeanors. A charge is only an allegation, and a court has not found Bonner guilty of anything.

Taylor says his client is “physically injured, she’s emotionally injured, and she’s just traumatized from this.” He alleges that an officer pushed her onto a bicycle twice and struck her repeatedly around her face and eyes, and that an officer touched her inappropriately during the arrest. The Tempe Officers Association rejects the touching claim as “inflammatory” and “unfounded.”

Its president, Robert Ferraro, says the videos show Bonner ignoring several orders to move back from officers trying to end a street fight. In a statement, the Tempe Police Department said it treats every claim of officer misconduct as serious. Bonner’s family wrote: “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.” Taylor has also called for the arresting officer to be fired.