A sorority girl who was body slammed to the ground by police outside a Colorado bar spoke on for the first time since a video of her arrest went viral.
Michaella Surat, 22, said she was left "humiliated" when Fort Collins police officers violently threw her to the ground outside Bondi Beach Bar on April 6, Daily Mail reports.
"All the bones were shattered in my face. I was just so humiliated because people were watching me.
"I can't go to school without feeling like someone is going to approach me and hurt me, I'm getting death threats online," she said through tears during a Good Morning America interview.
The encounter began when Surat approached police to try to find her boyfriend who was earlier pulled out of the bar because of a fight.
Police say she "shoulder checked" a bouncer and an officer while trying to get to him.
On Thursday, she insisted she had done nothing wrong when trying to find him.
"I found out my boyfriend got kicked out of the bar and so I went out to see what happened, and then the altercation happened and one thing led to another. It just escalated," she said.
Another reveller inside the bar recorded her arrest on their cell phone. The shocking footage was shared on Instagram and Twitter where it has since been viewed more than 800,000 times.
It showed the officer tossing her to the ground in one motion, her legs and high heels flying up behind her as her face landed on the concrete.
Surat's family shared photographs of her injuries afterwards. They included a dark blue bruise on her chin, a concussion and bruises on her legs.
"I can't open my mouth to eat," said the college student on Thursday as she showed the camera how her facial bruise stretches up her jaw line to her ears.
Fort Collins Police are investigating the incident and are refusing to release the officer's body camera footage until they have reached a conclusion.
They say the social media video lacks "context". While Surat's lawyer admits she was "highly agitated" and "irritated" before she was thrown to the ground, both he and her family say she did not deserve to be treated so violently.
"I was still equally as appalled. She was confused about where her boyfriend was. She was certainly irritated, highly irritated and agitated. Nothing I saw in that video warranted the very aggressive response I saw from the officer. Nothing," her attorney said on Friday.
Surat's parents said they could not even watch the video.
"Seeing my daughter planted on the ground like that, it went chin, body, feet," her mother said. Her father said she may have died.
"One little hair off differently, that could have been her death."
The college student herself echoed the angry comments of hundreds of thousands of social media viewers who have accused the officers of using excessive force.
"It shouldn't happen to anyone no matter their size, race, colour, whatever," she said.
Surat was charged with third degree assault and with obstructing a peace officer. She will return to court next month.
Her family has not pursued civil action against the police department.
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