Fargo, N.D. – The leader of the Fargo Police Department is not only defending the work of three officers who were recently assaulted while arresting a suspect downtown, but is also criticizing the hastened release of partial video of the encounter by local media without proper context.
On Saturday June 7th, the three officers were attempting to take a man into custody for allegedly smoking methamphetamine in a parking ramp.
As officers were trying to initially take 37-year old Joseph Manitowabi into custody at Roberts Street and 2nd Avenue North, the footage, which appeared to be shot with a cell phone, shows him punching the officers one by one before breaking free.
The video, which has since gone viral and racked up millions of views, ends as Manitowabi runs out of view.
Zibolski called the hurried posting of the clip “highly inappropriate and unprofessional.”
“They [the officers] deserve a lot of credit instead of ridicule,” Zibolski said on WDAY’s The Jay Thomas Show.
Zibolski says the footage was published “without comment” and “without context from the department.”
“This whole video snippet was quite misleading,” said Zibolski. “Everyone needs to understand that that’s not the whole episode.”
Listen: Fargo Police Chief David Zibolski on WDAY’s The Jay Thomas Show
Despite a separate media report suggesting he hadn’t seen the video yet, Zibolski said he was talking about the full police body camera footage.
“Of course I saw the video,” said Zibolski, claiming “inappropriate edits” were made of a recent interview he participated in “to provide a perception of someone’s agenda.”
Zibolski says called the situation with Manitowabi a “super human strength issue” since he was high on drugs, along with the fact that he’s a former boxer.
“Imagine getting hit by a boxer,” said Zibolski. “They all got their bell rungs without padding.”
Zibolski says the full police body camera footage, which he says will be released at some point, shows the officers giving chase after the assaults and successfully taking the suspect into custody near the Salvation Army on Roberts.
“They [the officers] really deserve that respect and trust until you have the full story,” said Zibolski. “They did outstanding work.”
Zibolski also released data on officer assaults, saying the numbers are trending downward.
In 2023, 76 officers were assaulted. 2 of those were shot and 1 was killed.
The following year, 55 officers assaults were logged.
And so far in 2025, 13 assaults on officers have taken place.
