Footage of a woman locked in a wild, full-contact scuffle with two officers has racked up thousands of views, and just as many comments arguing she would have never gotten off as easily if she weren’t white.
A video posted to Instagram on July 15 shows the woman’s WWE-worthy moves. From grabbing a female officer by the ponytail to kicking another officer’s glasses clean off his face, the woman unapologetically tore into the cops.
With an iron clench on the female officer’s hair, she held on as the male officer dragged her down by her feet, forcing them both down a small outdoor staircase. And she still managed to call the officer a “b—h.”
A second white woman, who was handcuffed and standing nearby, began crying and screaming. When she demanded, “Don’t touch her,” the male cop gave her a sharp shove, which sent her flying back onto the grass.
The male officer threw a few punches to get the first woman restrained. But even the man filming from behind sliding doors inside the home screamed at the cops, “Hey, f*ck that.”
The internet didn’t need long to draw its own conclusions about why the fight ended in handcuffs and not something worse.
Some commenters seemed surprised by the officers’ restraint; others, who’ve seen this play out very differently before, were more cynical.
One person wrote, “So funny the privilege these people get. She is fighting a cop, and she gets to live.”
Though the woman was punched a few times, another pointed out the absence of more extreme force. “No taser… nothing like that privilege.”
Others zeroed in on the officers’ restraint as proof of a double standard. “She was hurting a cop, didn’t comply and still didn’t get shot, beat up or tased. So cops can control themselves then?” Another person summed it up bluntly: “We’d be dead.”
The video provides no information on why the women were arrested in the first place. But for many viewers that’s beside the point. It’s a stark example of what policing can look like when you’re white and resisting arrest.
