‘I’m Going to Drop Her’: Ohio Cop Fantasized About Attacking Compliant Black Woman Before Slamming Her to Ground in Viral Video, Report Shows
A video that has gone viral on social media showing an Ohio police officer slamming a nonresistant Black woman to the ground took place more than three months ago, but an investigation recently concluded the officer violated departmental policy.
The March 17 video shows at least three Columbus police officers holding a Black woman at gunpoint. They ordered her to walk backward toward them in an apartment complex parking lot.
The woman, Mary Henley, complies, walking backward and placing both hands behind her back.
Report Exposes Officer’s Motive
But one officer, Alexander Valesky, grabs her wrists, presses his forearm against her neck, and kicks her feet out from under her, sending her hard to the ground. He then sits on top of her to handcuff her.
However, Valesky could have handcuffed her without forcing her to the ground, according to the Columbus Inspector General’s Office, which concluded its investigation on June 11.
“The officer stated the complainant was resistive and planted her foot when he was moving her,” the investigative report obtained by Atlanta Black Star states.
“However, prior to physical contact with the complainant, the officer stated, ‘Dude, I’m going to drop her,’ and ‘Alright, you know what? F_ck this.’”
“Given the totality of the circumstances and a preponderance of the evidence, force was used on the complainant for a retaliatory or punitive purpose, not for resistive behavior, as the decision to use force had been made before any physical resistance,” the report continues.
“CPD policy states, ‘Sworn personnel shall not use any force for a retaliatory or punitive purpose.’ Therefore, it is recommended this allegation be closed with a finding of ‘sustained.’”
Watch the video below.
Only a Fraction of Cases Are Sustained
The findings are now in the hands of the Civilian Police Review Board. The advisory panel that will review the case and determine whether to recommend disciplinary action against the officer.
The board then forwards those recommendations to city and police leadership, who will decide whether discipline is warranted.
Atlanta Black Star reached out to the Civilian Police Review Board to determine whether it has made a decision, but it has not responded.
Still, the inspector general’s decision to sustain the complaint is relatively rare. According to a city report, the office sustained only 98 of the 1,741 complaints it received in 2024.
Many complaints were closed with minimal investigation. Either they were filed with the wrong agency, lacked sufficient information, or were closed because “no police misconduct was found during the preliminary investigation,” according to the 2024 report from the city of Columbus.
That same report shows the inspector general’s office fully investigated 637 complaints in 2024, sustaining just 98 – about 15.4 percent.
In Henley’s case, the complaint was sustained because investigators determined Valesky’s actions were retaliatory, violating departmental policy.
‘I Ain’t Got No Weapons’
On the day of the incident, Columbus police were responding to a call from a woman who accused Henley of trying to kick in her door. She allegedly threatened to shoot her and her 9-month-old baby during a Facebook Live broadcast.
Officers said Henley matched the description of the woman in the video. They approached her at gunpoint, believing she might be armed.
Witness and body camera footage show Henley complying with police commands before an officer slams her to the ground. The footage also shows Henley sitting in a car with another woman, but nothing indicates the second woman was involved in any threats.
“I ain’t got no weapons, we ain’t got no weapons,” Henley tells officers as they point guns at her.
“Shut up!” one officer yells.
The investigative report does not indicate that Henley was armed or arrested. Online court records from Franklin County and Columbus also show no record of an arrest that day.
However, the use-of-force report included in the inspector general’s findings shows Valesky claimed Henley turned toward him and tensed her arms — assertions not clearly supported by the video.
“Officer Valesky felt Ms. Henley begin to physically tense her arms while aggressively stating, ‘Don’t grab me, don’t grab me,’” the report states.
“Officer Valesky continued to attempt to control Ms. Henley’s arms to place her in handcuffs.”
“At this point, due to the need to place Ms. Henley in handcuffs as quickly as possible and remove her from the immediate area, Officer Valesky physically displaced Ms. Henley’s head and upper body with an open hand while tripping her foot and forcing her to the ground,” the report concludes.