Woman Alleging That Michigan Cops Racially Profiled Her, Had Spat at Bar Manager—Police

A woman has claimed that a viral video shows her being racially profiled by officers and illegally detained. However, police say she was arrested after spitting in a bar manager's face.

In the clip, viewed more than 35,000 times on TikTok over the weekend, the woman is heard being questioned by officers.

In captions, she claimed officers in Detroit, Michigan approached her and started asking her questions as she waited for an Uber outside a friend's home last Tuesday. The woman said she was held in custody for 72 hours before being released without charge.

However, a report from the Detroit Police Department, obtained by Newsweek, said the woman, identified as 22-year-old Marina Bazzi, was charged with assault and battery after an incident at a nearby bar.

The report said officers arrived at the Woodbridge Pub on Trumbull Street at around 8.20 p.m. on Tuesday and spoke with the manager.

The manager told officers that Bazzi had been on a date there that had ended badly.

The man she was on a date with hid in the bathroom, the report said, as Bazzi left the establishment. But the report said she then came in and out of the pub three times, asking "where the f**k is he?"

The manager told police Bazzi then started asking other customers if they would give her a ride home. When the manager asked her to leave, Bazzi reportedly told her: "You're about to not have a job b***h."

The police report says Bazzi then spat in the manager's face from less than a foot away and told her "good luck with the COVID I have."

Other officers in the vicinity located Bazzi near Trumbull Street and Forest Avenue, after being provided with a description of her clothing, the police report said. She was wearing a blue and white striped sweater, jeans and a trench coat, according to the report.

But in the TikTok video, Bazzi alleges that she was racially profiled.

"So, is there a problem? Should I cancel my Uber? Is there evidence that I did anything or is there even proof that I was even there or are you like…," she is heard saying.

An officer is heard replying: "That's what we're working on right now. You have any ID on you?"

When she responds that her identification is in her purse, the officer asks if she is a student at Wayne State University and what she is studying.

She tells them she is, but a university spokesperson told Newsweek that Bazzi is not a student there.

In the video, the officer then asks: "Did you spit on someone today?"

"No," she responds. "What are you talking about? No. On my mom, I didn't."

In another caption on the video, the woman said she was "getting nervous because I'm not white." To the officers, she said: "Are you questioning me?"

In response to another question, she adds: "I'm not answering any questions without an attorney present. Thank you. I've no idea what you're talking about... and you know how many people wear striped shirts."

The clip ends at that point, but in another caption, the woman said the officers took her belongings and "violated my human rights."

"They also handcuffed me backwards after I told them multiple times that I was pregnant and epileptic," she added. "They also assaulted me when [I refused] to unlock my phone and delete all the videos."

In response to comments asking for more details, the user said the she was held for 72 hours before being released without charge. "They ended up catching the girl who did it. It wasn't even me I wasn't charged," she wrote in one comment.

But according to the police report, the manager of the pub identified Bazzi as the woman who spat in her face.

The police report also says one of the officers who arrested Bazzi advised that she was making threats to return to the Woodbridge pub to kill the manager once she was out of jail.

The Woodbridge pub has been contacted for comment.

Update 3/15/21, 11:55 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information from a police report. The headline has also been changed in order to reflect that update.