Nationally recognized civil rights attorneys are questioning the circumstances around the viral video of Eryn Bonner, an Arizona State University cheerleader, who’s seen appearing to be shoved, slammed to the ground and punched by Tempe, Arizona, police after she tried to stop them from arresting her boyfriend.
asserted
she → recognize → boyfriend
Ben Crump, who has represented multiple families in civil rights cases, including those of Trayvon Martin and George Floyd, posted a copy of the video on social media and asked, “Did this encounter really warrant this level of force?!”
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encounter → represent → force
He added that officers “must prioritize restraint and de-escalation whenever possible.”
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officers → add → restraint
In a separate posting, Lee Merritt, who represented the family of slain jogger Ahmaud Arbery, included photos of bruises under Bonner’s eyes.
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who → represent → eyes
He said the ongoing internal review of her arrest should “examine whether Bonner imposed an immediate threat” and “whether force against her was necessary.”
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force → say → her
The Maricopa County attorney declined to bring charges against Bonner, 21, over the July 19 confrontation.
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attorney → decline → confrontation
The city later charged her with disorderly conduct and interfering with/hindering police, both misdemeanors.
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city → charge → misdemeanors
Edited videos released by police show Bonner trying to stop bicycle patrol officers from arresting her boyfriend when an officer, telling her to “back up,” shoves her hard enough to send her flying a short distance backward and landing flat on the ground on her buttocks.
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officer → edit → buttocks
She returns and approaches the officer, yelling, “You want to punch a bitch?”
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You → return → bitch
In the video, she is tackled and her body falls across one of the bicycles as officers begin to try to restrain her.
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officers → tackle → her
During the scuffle, a loud smack is heard as the officer who shoved her appears to punch her in the face.
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who → hear → face
The video then shows officers trying to turn her over and cuff her.
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officers → show → her
While one officer is grabbing her arms, another helping constrain her puts his hand on her buttocks and appears to squeeze.
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another → grab → buttocks
When they have her cuffed, police move her to a curb and sit her on the ground.
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police → have → ground
She yells at them and says, “You see my f---ing face?” adding later that the officer pushed her down and punched her in her face.
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officer → yell → face
Bonner has filed a sexual assault complaint with the police internal affairs unit, alleging the officer who arrested her groped her buttocks after she was on the ground, contact that was captured on the video released by police.
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that → file → police
Bonner’s attorney, Benjamin Taylor, said that the misdemeanor charges were filed after Bonner filed her sexual assault complaint and that he believes the charges are retaliation and are intended to weaken her sexual assault complaint.
“Why are they so vigilant in trying to charge a woman who is 21 years old and an ASU student?” Taylor asked.
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Taylor → say → woman
Why are you trying to ruin her record for an incident where she was traumatized and trying to help her boyfriend?”
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she → try → boyfriend
The police department said the incident is still under investigation, and it provided previously released statements and video.
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it → say → statements
It said that the city prosecutor’s office filed the charges “following careful review of the evidence” and that the decision to file charges was “not made in response to outside influences or any allegations regarding groping.”
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decision → say → groping
The police department said the timing of the city prosecutor’s charges was due to the City Prosecutor’s Office’s “conducting a thorough review of all available evidence before submitting charges.”
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Office → say → charges
Another video provided by police shows the moments leading up to the encounter.
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video → provide → encounter
It shows Bonner and her friends walking past a man holding pizza boxes outside a business.
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Bonner → show → business
Moments after Bonner and her friends walk away, one of the men with Bonner suddenly turns back toward the man with the pizza boxes and knocks them from his hand as the man identified as Bonner’s boyfriend tries to pull his friend back and away from the man with the pizza boxes.
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man → walk → boxes
In moments, the bicycle patrol officers are intervening and tackling the men with Bonner as she yells at them to stop.
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she → intervene → them
Taylor, Bonner’s attorney, said the police should have first tried to de-escalate the incident.
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police → say → incident
“There was no need for the officers to start tackling and throwing people down and start arresting people,” Taylor said.
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Taylor → be → people
“They could have easily come up and talked to Eryn and her friends to figure out what’s going on.”
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what → come → Eryn
Taylor said Bonner is an excellent senior student at ASU.
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Bonner → say → ASU
Records show four speeding tickets and a cellphone-use-while-driving violation.
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Records → show → tickets
All are closed.
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All → close → ?
The video provided by police shows officers initially telling Bonner to back up as they move her aside.
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they → provide → her
When they tackle her, she tries to pull her arms out of their grip before she is punched in the face.
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she → tackle → face
Police and the city of Tempe said in a joint statement Aug. 5 that the police department “takes every allegation of police misconduct seriously” because maintaining community trust depends on it.
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maintaining → say → it
“Our officers are held to high professional standards and our community deserves confidence that allegations of this nature will be reviewed fairly, impartially and with great care,” they said.
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they → hold → care
Taylor questions whether that is happening and is calling for the removal of Sgt. Kevin Ameiss, who contacted Bonner and told her he was leading the police internal affairs investigation.
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he → question → investigation
Ameiss had been suspended after an officer under his supervision held a Black hotel employee at gunpoint while seeking a white male suspect, according to a media report at the time.
uncertain
officer → suspend → time
Taylor has also asked the mayor and the City Council to remove the investigation from the police department and have it conducted by a third party or another agency.
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it → ask → party
“This assignment presents an egregious conflict of interest and severely undermines public trust in the Tempe Police Department’s accountability processes,” he said in his email to the city officials.
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he → present → officials
Police said in a statement that Ameiss is part of a team led by a police lieutenant who has oversight of the investigation.
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who → say → investigation
…and 2 more, not listed.
The Aporia
