Oregon State Police released video Monday showing the violent arrest of a 21-year-old Oregon State University student that sparked outrage across the community.
The clip captured the Oct. 13 arrest of Genesis Hansen, who was stopped by a state trooper for riding on the wrong side of the road on a residential street near the Corvallis, Oregon, campus, local station KATU reported. Things escalated, and Hansen found herself being strong-armed by officers for refusing to answer their questions or provide her ID.
The video drew backlash from critics, including the NAACP, who accused police of excessive use of force and racial profiling. Hansen is Black.
“The brutality, the aggressiveness. If I were to put it mildly, it would be mind-blowing,” E.D. Mondaine, president of the NAACP Tri-State Conference, said of the footage.
OSP hit back at the claims this week, and said it was releasing the video to address concerns raised by the community.
In a statement, the department said: “As an agency that is committed to eliminating racial profiling and implicit bias in policing, these allegations are being meticulously reviewed, and we’re compiling as much information as possible. The agency understands the importance of vigorously investigating these allegations and is taking a serious look at the incident.”
Residents who witnessed Hansen’s encounter with police also criticized the behavior of the officers, describing the arrest as hard to watch.
Paige Negrete, an OSU student who witnessed the arrest, said she was “disgusted” by what she saw.
“(Hansen) was basically just standing there, and soon as they said they were going to arrest her and she stepped back, and these two men who were over a foot taller than her, just lunge at her and tackle her to the ground,” Negrete told KATU.
“Even when they had her on the ground they were still on top of her, until we were all yelling at them saying, you don’t need to be on top of this small woman — you’re two grown men, that’s ridiculous,” she said, adding, “It chokes me up talking about it, because it was disgusting to watch.”
Hansen was arrested on charges of interfering with a police officer and resisting arrest, both of which were eventually dropped by the Benton County district attorney.
On Tuesday, the NAACP held a press conference demanding OSP and Corvallis police to apologize to Hansen or face civic action.
Oregon State Police said the arrest remains under investigation.
The agency also announced this week it was ending its contract with the university, citing a personnel shortage elsewhere in the state. According to the Corvallis Gazette Times, state police had been mulling the decision “for much of this year.”
Watch more in the video below.
