An East Lansing police officer is on paid administrative leave after bystander video showing the arrest of a 20-year-old Black woman outside Harper's Restaurant and Brew Pub drew widespread outrage and condemnation from the NAACP Lansing Branch.

The East Lansing Police Department opened an internal investigation into the early-morning arrest of Myana Collins on Sunday, Aug. 2, in downtown East Lansing. The city's official statement, issued Monday, Aug. 3, said the circulating video "does not capture the entire incident" and that ELPD will review body-worn camera footage and other materials.

Interim City Manager Annette Irwin said in the statement that the city takes safety issues very seriously and will thoroughly review what happened early that Sunday morning.

The nearly 14-minute video, posted to Facebook by bystander Taylor Drozdowski, shows multiple officers carrying Collins in wrist restraints out of Harper's, according to East Lansing Info. Collins falls to the ground, where officers restrain her face down. At approximately the 4:30 mark, an officer strikes Collins in the back multiple times while she is handcuffed and restrained at the legs, the outlet reported. Throughout the video, Collins screams for help, saying "they're being racist" and "please save me," according to East Lansing Info's description.

The NAACP Lansing Branch, in a written statement Monday, said Collins' family reported she was tased multiple times during the encounter. The organization said an officer "punched her several times on the back and arm while she was lying on the ground face down, handcuffed and restrained at the legs," according to the Lansing State Journal.

Collins sought treatment at a hospital and was later released, the NAACP said.

She has not been charged with a crime.

NAACP Lansing Branch President James McCurtis Jr. called the incident "an outrage" and demanded Police Chief Jennifer Brown resign or be fired by Irwin. "Once again this disturbing video shows the East Lansing Police Department's use of excessive force on another Black person, this time a Black woman," McCurtis said in the NAACP's Monday statement, as reported by WLNS.

Collins' mother, Shannon, who asked media not to publish her last name, addressed the East Lansing Independent Police Oversight Commission on Wednesday, Aug. 5, with Police Chief Brown in attendance, WLNS reported. Shannon told WLNS that medical records show her daughter fell and hit her head at the East Lansing Jail and later received a CT scan at the hospital. ELPD confirmed it is also investigating what happened at the jail.

The incident follows a series of use-of-force controversies under Brown's leadership. In August 2025, ELPD officers pepper-sprayed two Black men, Lonnie Smith and Mason Woods, outside a downtown restaurant; criminal charges against both were dismissed, and the city's Human Rights Commission found in April 2026 that ELPD racially discriminated against them. In April 2026, ELPD officers shot and killed Isaiah Kirby, 21, a Black MSU student suspected of stabbing a man; that shooting remains under investigation by Michigan State Police. An East Lansing Info analysis found ELPD officers used force more than 50% more frequently in 2025, Brown's first year as chief, compared to the prior year.

The city has not named the officer placed on leave or provided a timeline for the investigation's conclusion. Anyone with video or information about the incident can contact Captain Adrian Ojerio at [email protected].