A police officer in Flagstaff, Arizona, was filmed punching a woman in the face during an arrest on Wednesday.
The officer, whom the Flagstaff Police Department has identified as Jeff Bonar, has been placed on administrative leave as the department conducts an internal investigation.
The seven-minute video shows the woman interacting with Bonar and another officer as they attempt to place her under arrest.
The woman, who has not yet been identified, can be heard saying, “You cannot arrest me,” as the officers tell her to stop resisting.
“I know my laws,” she says. “You can’t arrest me until I know that I have a warrant.”
Someone outside the camera view can be heard telling the woman to calm down, let the police run her name, and that “they will let you go.”
“Stop resisting,” Bonar says again.
“OK,” the woman says, and then inquires again if the officers had a warrant for her arrest.
The video shows the woman and Bonar begin to struggle with each other. She says, “You cannot arrest me until I know I have a warrant.”
Then Bonar strikes her in the face with a closed fist.
People nearby begin shouting, “Hey, you can’t hit her like that,” as the woman begins to cry.
“You’re gonna get tased. Get on the ground,” Bonar says.
“I didn’t do anything,” the woman says repeatedly as the officers force her to the ground.
People nearby can be heard telling the woman, “Just let them arrest you,” and letting her know that the incident had been recorded.
As more officers arrived at the scene, the woman continued to say, “I don’t have a warrant” as they put her in the backseat of the police car.
The Flagstaff Police Department released a statement about the incident Wednesday evening, acknowledging that they had been made aware of the video and identifying Bonar.
“Our agency is very concerned by what is depicted in this video. We are immediately initiating an internal investigation into this incident,” the statement read.