ATLANTA, GA – Matthew Gonzales Forestine, 21, a senior computer science major, is facing charges of aggravated assault and terroristic threats and acts, Fulton County records show. The charges stem from an incident, captured in a now-viral video. The footage, posted to TikTok and accompanied by a viewer warning label, shows the Morehouse College senior strangling a Clark Atlanta University student. The student, Kayla Bryant, identified herself as the victim in a social media post addressing the incident this week.
Records obtained by The Maroon Tiger show authorities booked Gonzales Forestine into the Fulton County jail on Nov. 23, three days following the incident. No bond has been set, and Gonzales Forestine remains in custody as of 3 p.m. Tuesday, according to the Fulton County jail inmate web search.
In a brief interview with The Maroon Tiger Monday evening, Kevin Booker ’90, vice president for Student Services and dean of Morehouse College, said the video “deeply disturbed” him.
“This incident shows that we have important work to do at Morehouse College,” Booker said. “We will strengthen our commitment to helping students learn to de-escalate hostile situations. We will also foster healthy relationships and address domestic violence within our community.”
Atlanta police respond to reported fight
According to a statement from Atlanta police, officers responded to a fight at 120 Luckie Street NW on Thursday at 6:36 p.m. The location is in Downtown Atlanta, about two miles from the Atlanta University Center. The young woman who called police said a man stepped on her foot “causing pain,” and “walked away as if nothing had happened.” It happened while they were riding a Georgia State University bus, according to the police statement. The young woman told police that when she went on to confront the man about stepping on her foot, his girlfriend pushed her. That’s when the man, later identified by police as Gonzales Forestine, assaulted the victim. The police statement indicates several witnesses stepped in to end the attack.
One student who witnessed the incident and asked to remain unidentified said, “It appeared that he (Gonzales Forestine) unintentionally stepped on (Bryant’s) foot but did not seem to apologize.”
In the video, Gonzales can be seen jumping into the camera view, grabbing Bryant by the neck, lifting her off the ground, and yelling: “I should kill you, right?” and “Call 12,” a slang reference to contacting the police. The video, posted to TikTok by Bryant and reviewed by The Maroon Tiger, lasted nearly four minutes, and included her commentary on the incident. It is unclear who recorded the incident. It is also unclear from the police and Bryant’s statements how long the entire confrontation and assault lasted.
Campus leadership reacts
Clark Atlanta University president Dr. George T. French released a statement soon after the incident, confirming the victim is a CAU student, while Bryant later identified herself as the victim on social media. The Maroon Tiger has reached out to Bryant on Instagram, indicating the paper’s coverage. She has not yet responded but offered details about the incident in the TikTok video posted to her account on Nov. 21. By Sunday, Bryant’s video had more than 4.5 million views and 41,600 shares.
“He picks me up off of the ground and starts strangling me,” Bryant said in the video. “I couldn’t breathe, and I was kicking off the walls to gain balance.”
“He was telling me he was going to kill me.”
In the statement, French identified himself as a father disturbed by “this disgusting display of violence against a young woman.” He went on to write that “violence of any kind, particularly against women, is intolerable, unacceptable and has no place on our campuses.”
Morehouse College responded to the incident in a series of statements from Students Services, the President’s Officeand the Student Government Association.
“Whether physical, verbal or written, violence and threats of violence have no place in the Morehouse community, particularly violence against women,” wrote Morehouse College president, Dr. F. DuBois Bowman ’92.
Similar to French, Bowman identified as a father in his statement, which was released on Monday. He emphasized that he has two daughters, noting “as a president leading an institution that uniquely develops Black men, it is even more imperative that we all maintain an unwavering commitment to upholding these core principles.”
Bowman indicated a student conduct review is underway, and that federal student privacy regulations prevented the college from publicly disclosing “specific details or ongoing updates regarding individual student conduct matters.”
What the law says
According to Georgia law, a conviction for terroristic threat and acts carries a combined minimum sentence of six years and up to 45 years, depending on the victim’s injuries and whether the defendant suggested the threat of death. Forestine could also face anywhere from one to 20 years in prison if convicted on the aggravated assault charge, according to Georgia statutes.
This is a developing story, and updates will be added as more information becomes available.
