Viral video: Thug punches 3 Fargo cops in their faces amid arrest attempt, escapes on foot. But there's more to the story.

One of the more viral moments of the last several days comes from a cellphone video showing three police officers in downtown Fargo, North Dakota, attempting to arrest a male — and somehow the guy wrangles out of their collective grasp, punches all three of them in their faces in quick succession, and then runs off.

The incident occurred around 4:35 p.m. Saturday in the 200 block of Roberts Street North after a report about suspicious activity, KVRR-TV reported. According to KFGO-AM, a suspect allegedly was seen smoking meth.

'I mean, police officers need to be tougher, stronger, than these three! What the hell?!'

Three officers tried to detain the suspect — 37-year-old Joseph Manitowabi — and he slugged all three of them and ran away. Officers did manage to wrangle the assailant after a short pursuit, KFGO said, adding that Manitowabi was charged with three counts of assault on a police officer, possession of drug paraphernalia, preventing arrest, and refusal to halt.

Manitowabi — who has no permanent address, KVRR said — has been held in the Cass County Jail on $25,000 bail, KFGO noted. Jail records indicate he was still behind bars as of Wednesday morning.

What's more, he has a criminal history that includes disorderly conduct, fighting, and possession of marijuana, KFGO added.

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Joseph Manitowabi after a previous arrest.Image source: Cass County (N.D.) Jail

But what's been on many minds is the short video that KVRR news reporter Alex Bertsch recorded of Manitowabi dishing out haymakers to the officers. Bertsch noted on X that it was a "really crazy thing to witness."

KFGO reported that the controversial clip — which you can watch here — has been viewed over 6 million times online.

The three officers — who were treated for minor injuries in the aftermath, KVRR said — have come under heavy criticism. Two of the officers immediately turned away and disengaged from Manitowabi after he punched them. While the third officer held on to Manitowabi's wrist after getting punched once, he let go after a second sock to the head.

Check out some of these comments on X:

• "Those cops are never living this one down…" one user said.
• "I mean, police officers need to be tougher, stronger, than these three!" another commenter declared. "What the hell?!"
• "LMAO — seriously??" another user noted. "They need to put hand-to-hand combat training in the academy... This dude [the officer wearing a helmet] got punched once and nope'd the f**k out. I understand the chick — but the dude didn't even circle back to tase or anything. PATHETIC."
• "Why are those police so f**king soft!?" another commenter wondered.
• "Once again, I'm not favorably impressed with cops' grappling skills," another user wrote. "They need remedial martial arts training, pronto."

Jay Thomas — who hosts "The Jay Thomas Show" in the afternoons on 970 WDAY AM/93.1 FM in Fargo — told Blaze News he generally was of the same mind after he first got a gander at the beatdown video.

"What the hell's going on here?" Thomas said he initially wondered, adding that the clip looked like something out of the "Keystone Cops."

"Holy smokes," Thomas exclaimed to Blaze News, adding that viral video contributes to the prevailing narrative that "your cops are not trained" and "it looks bad."

Well, Thomas on his Tuesday show (47:40 mark) spoke to Fargo Police Chief David Zibolski about the video, asking him how and why the attempted arrest went down the way it did.

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Police Chief David ZibolskiImage source: City of Fargo, N.D.

Zibolski told Thomas there's police bodycam video the public hasn't seen that gives a fuller picture of what happened. The chief added that the suspect — a "large man" — was observed "smoking meth," and the officers confronted him.

Zibolski told Thomas police were able to get Manitowabi's left wrist handcuffed, but when they tried to get his right wrist handcuffed, "that's when he explodes and punches each officer individually."

The chief said the suspect was "methed up," which presented a "superhuman strength issue" — and that Manitowabi is a "former boxer, so when you hit someone in the head without a pad, that's a pretty good hit."

"They all got their bell rung," Zibolski added to Thomas.

In addition, Zibolski said one officer was busy trying to hold Manitowabi's one handcuffed wrist "so he doesn't swing the cuff around, and that could cause significant injury to the other officers."

The chief also told Thomas that what the short clip doesn't show is that the three officers, after they recovered, chased down the suspect and successfully arrested him behind a Salvation Army.

Zibolski was not happy that the public jumped to negative conclusions based on the short viral video that didn't tell the full story.

He added to Thomas that the involved officers "really deserve that respect and trust" and "should not be placed in a position where they are subject to denigration" based on video viewers only getting "a little piece of the story."

"I take issue with that," the chief added to Thomas.

Thomas told Blaze News that he hopes Fargo police release the full bodycam video as soon as possible, because "whether you like it or not, it's about perception" — and in the world of news driven by social media "it's about getting clicks and views."

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