A Morehouse College student has been arrested and charged with aggravated assault and making terroristic threats after a viral video showed him choking a Clark Atlanta University student outside an off-campus apartment complex, sparking outrage across Atlanta's HBCU community.

According to the Atlanta Police Department, officers were called on Nov. 20, just after 6:30 p.m., to 120 Luckie Street NW about a physical dispute. Police said the reporting party told officers that while she was riding on a Georgia State University school bus, an unidentified male stepped on her foot, causing pain, and walked away. When she confronted him, police said, the suspect's girlfriend intervened and pushed her. According to APD, the male suspect then joined the assault before several witnesses broke it up. 

Police later identified the man as 21-year-old Matthew Gonzales Forestine. He was transported to the Fulton County Jail for processing and booked under the name Matthew Dave Gonzales Forestine.

According to The Maroon Tiger, Morehouse's student-run newspaper, the incident occurred outside The Legacy at Centennial Apartments and quickly spread online after witnesses recorded the altercation. The video, reshared by a CAU junior identified as Kayla Bryant, has drawn hundreds of thousands of views on TikTok and sparked a wave of anger from students, alumni, and parents.

Bryant posted the footage along with a video describing the attack, appearing visibly shaken as she recounted what happened. She says she was riding the apartment shuttle when a couple boarded and began showing public affection. Wanting space, she moved to a different seat and continued listening to music.

As she prepared to get off the shuttle, Bryant says the man, later identified as Gonzales Forestine, stepped on her foot.

"He steps on me, and I say, 'Excuse me, can you apologize?'" Bryant says in the video. "And he didn't say anything. As I'm walking off the shuttle, his girlfriend is standing there…"

Bryant says the girlfriend confronted her, asking, "Is there a problem?" Words were exchanged, and Bryant says the girlfriend put her hands in Bryant's face before turning to her boyfriend and saying, "You got it, bae?"

Moments later, Bryant says, the Morehouse student placed her in a chokehold.

"He picks me up off the ground and starts strangling me. I couldn't breathe, and I was kicking off the walls to gain balance," she says. "He was telling me he was going to kill me."

Bystanders recorded the incident, and the clip quickly spread. By Sunday, Bryant's video had been viewed more than 2 million times and shared more than 42,000 times.

In a statement Saturday, Clark Atlanta University President George T. French Jr. said he was "deeply concerned" by the assault and called the violence "unacceptable."

"As the President of this institution, my first priority is the safety and wellbeing of our students," he wrote. "As a father, this disgusting display of violence against a young woman is unacceptable and has no place in our community."

French emphasized that violence "particularly against women" would not be tolerated and said the university is working with Atlanta police and other authorities to address the situation "immediately."

Morehouse College also released multiple statements over the weekend, calling the behavior shown in the video "disappointing" and "completely inconsistent" with the school's values.

In a letter Sunday, Morehouse President Dr. F. DuBois Bowman said violence or threats of violence "have no place in the Morehouse community, particularly violence against women."

"As a father of four, including two daughters … it is even more imperative that we all maintain an unwavering commitment to upholding these core principles," Bowman wrote.

He said the college has already taken steps to ensure safety while Atlanta Police and the college's student conduct review move forward. He noted that federal privacy laws prevent Morehouse from releasing further details about any disciplinary actions.

Morehouse said Saturday that its Campus Safety and Student Services teams are reviewing the matter and that the college is working closely with CAU and Atlanta police "to fully investigate the situation and to reach a just resolution."

Clark Atlanta released another statement Sunday confirming the incident occurred off-campus but said the safety of CAU students "remains the top priority."

The university said its Department of Public Safety is in communication with Bryant, her family, Morehouse officials, and the Atlanta Police Department "to address this situation with both care and urgency."