The warning signs were there before a Northern California cop was caught on video last week repeatedly punching a 16-year-old Black boy inside a high school, then yanking on his locs after he had been handcuffed.
Now Fairfield Police Officer Bianca Camacho has been “reassigned” after the video went viral, sparking outrage across the nation with demands for her termination. That means she will likely no longer be working as a school resource officer at Fairfield High School, at least for the time being.
Last year, Camacho was caught in another video during an unrelated incident yanking an 18-year-old woman by the hair to force her out of the car during a traffic stop for speeding.
“The same thing that happened to that poor boy, happened to me,” Myah Hamilton told ABC 7.
On May 20, Camacho, formerly known as Bianca Brown, was captured on video running up to another school resource cop who was arresting Maurice Williams on charges related to a fight.
Witness video shows the first officer, James Lewis, lifting Williams up to slam him on the ground when Camacho comes running up and grabs him by the locs.
“Give me your f_cking hands! Give me your f_cking hands!” she yells at Williams after he is on the ground with her on top of him before punching him repeatedly in the back of the head.
Fairfield police described the punches as “distraction strikes” in a press release posted to Facebook the following day, which one commenter described as “copaganda for head punches.”
‘That Kid Never Fought Back’
The press release posted to Facebook on May 21 described a “physical altercation involving multiple students on campus” and said a “student physically fought a school official who was attempting to break up the fight.”
It also says the first officer, Lewis, had detained one student and was escorting him into the office when a second student, Williams, “was continuing to try to fight.”
The video, however, contradicts that statement because it shows Williams trying to record the cop detaining the first student with his phone from several feet away.
But the video confirms that Williams ran into a crowd of students once the cop tried to detain him.
The press release goes on to claim Williams was “displaying aggressive behaviors and had already struck the officer,” which is why the first cop tackled him to the ground, but then the “student tensed his arms, and the officer was unable to overcome his resistance.”
But commenters on Facebook were skeptical.
“That kid never fought back,” said one commenter.
“I never saw him hit any officer. I saw the officer punching this kid repeatedly when he was on the ground not fighting back, so of course they’re gonna put a different spin on it, but that doesn’t show it on the video so you can say whatever you want, but that’s not what it shows on the video.”
“The officer was very aggressive, and she repeatedly punched this kid in the back of the head which was to me not necessary. It was very aggressive and it was way overkill.”
‘Should be Fired’
Two days after the first press release, which did not contain the name of the officer who wrote it, the Fairfield Police Department posted a second press release, this one signed by Chief Dan Marshall, acknowledging “the hurt, concern, and trauma many people have felt after watching the video circulating on social media.”
“In the interest of transparency, an outside organization will conduct an independent investigation of the incident,” the chief said without naming the outside organization.
“The officer has been administratively reassigned in the department as we navigate this emotional and challenging time.”
“We will carefully evaluate the totality of the investigation’s findings, for discipline, additional training, opportunities for improvements, or policy changes within the department,” it continued.
But that also drew comments from skeptics demanding to know why she felt the need to pull his locs after he had already been handcuffed and was being led away. Other commenters showed their support by thanking the chief.
“You failed to mention the part where after the suspect was in handcuffs the officer grabs his hair, why wasn’t that mentioned,” said a commenter. “There’s no excusing it or defending the officers behavior. She should be fired!!!!!!”
“So why was he dragged back by his hair from behind after she already had him in cuffs and had an assist from a male officer at the same time?” added a second commenter.
Williams’ stepmother, Sequoia “Koty” Williams, also told Vallejo Sun Camacho needs to be fired.
“I feel like she shouldn’t be around kids,” Williams said, who posted the videos on Facebook along with her commentary. “I feel like she should lose her job.”
The case against Hamilton, the woman who was pulled out of her car by her hair, remains pending.
“She should have never been able to continue to be a police officer, they call you guys peace officers to bring peace, not to sit there and bring commotion and cause more problems than there already was,” Hamilton told ABC 7.