Woman arrested after viral video of fight at Colony Apartments

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - A video on Facebook of a fight at the Colony Apartments in Columbia, South Carolina has gone viral, leading to the arrest of one woman so far.

The video, which has since been taken down, showed a group of women pull a woman’s baby from her arms while she was breastfeeding and then beat the mother.

Tuesday, police arrested 21-year-old Shanique Branham, charging her with first degree assault and battery and first degree burglary.

Officers say additional arrests are pending.

The video is so graphic we decided not to show it, but took a couple screenshots from it which can be seen in the video above. If people want to see the video, there is a version of it on YouTube. Viewer discretion is advised as, again, the video is graphic.

Here’s what happened.

A group of women ripped the child from the mother’s arms as she was breastfeeding. The mother can be heard yelling, “Don’t take my child.”

Then another woman begins hitting the victim over and over.

Branham is accused of “unlawfully going inside the 21-year-old female victim’s home at the Colony Apartments and repeatedly assaulting her,” police said.

The video was posted on a Facebook page called “Bumpin, thumpin and jumping,” a public Facebook page that says it is about “hood fights.”

Residents at the Colony Apartments sent Perry Bradley with “Building Better Communities” the video right after it happened.

“It breaks my heart honestly,” Bradley said. “As an African American male, we deserve better. As a race, we should deserve better of ourselves. It hurts my heart to know we value our lives that much less only cause we do these things and think it’s entertaining -- which it’s not.”

The woman is doing OK and the baby is back with the mother, Bradley said.

No word yet on what started the fight.

Bradley says one problem is there is so much distrust with the Black community and police that the residents here at the Colony Apartments take justice into their own hands. Bradley says he’s trying to change that.

Again, CDP said more arrests are pending as officers continue their investigation. They said the victim’s vehicle may also have been vandalized outside the apartment building.

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