Mayoral candidate Jonathan Barlow is facing a flood of negative online attention spawned from viral videos depicting an encounter with a group of women who say he harassed them on a night out.

Snapshots of the Saturday morning interaction were detailed in six short videos that have garnered 3 million views and counting. Videos posted by the women show Barlow following them down the street while they tell him to leave, recording them with his phone in one hand and holding a drink in the other, then apparently knocking the phone out of one woman’s hand while she was recording. 

Barlow said in a Monday interview that the videos were taken out of context to create a false narrative against him, and he’s adamant that he did not harass or assault anyone.

“You can hear them joking in the background the whole time, and that’s what threw me off – is this real or is this fake?” Barlow said. “My social media team says I’ve been rage baited. Some women will do this because it’s the influencer world, but that’s the crazy thing about politics right now.”

BridgeDetroit spoke with one of the women, who is in her early 20s and asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation. She said Barlow made them feel unsafe, and she’s already faced online harassment from Barlow supporters who accused the group of lying. 

The woman said Barlow was in a car when they passed by on foot around 2 a.m. on Saturday. She said Barlow asked one of the seven women if she was married and became rude when they expressed disinterest. She said Barlow followed them on foot for close to a mile before giving up. Then they called the police and filed a report. BridgeDetroit requested a copy of the police report on Monday. 

“There are some people saying we’re trying to set up a successful Black man – we never knew who he was at all, we were just scared because it was a man following us,” she said. “He gave us a campaign flyer at the end of the interaction. At the end of the day, he did lay hands on my friend, even though his intent was to hit her phone out of her hand.” 

TikTok user @pinkprincezzzx posted the videos over the weekend. She didn’t respond to a request for an interview. In the comments, she said the group was out for her birthday and ​​claimed Barlow assaulted them after they rejected him. Some in the group are laughing and scream “jumpscare” when Barlow moves toward them, while others yell for help.

“What else needs to be said?” the original poster wrote in a comment. “You can’t follow screaming girls down the street.”

Barlow said he was helping friends move their cars after leaving an event at Omega Psi Phi when he came across the group near Detroit’s Cultural District. Barlow said he approached them “in friendly campaign mode.” Barlow said he introduced himself as a mayoral candidate and was having a normal conversation with one of the women when the mood shifted.

“I’m thinking about getting a campaign video saying she’s going to vote for me,” Barlow said. “By the time I do that, (another) young lady comes up and says ‘she doesn’t want to talk to you, you’re harassing us’ and (she) starts to make a scene. I go into convincing mode and defensive mode … I’m shocked that I’m not getting through to this young lady who’s interjecting herself and before I know it, she whips out her phone and says ‘I’m going to put you on TikTok.’” 

The woman who spoke with BridgeDetroit said Barlow’s account of the interaction leaves out some important information. 

“I swear on everything I love, I heard him ask if (we were married), and I’m not trying to be bigheaded or anything, but I am a beautiful girl, so I do get catcalled a lot,” she said. “I went to school for social work. I know my mouth is my most powerful tool. We tried to ignore him. We probably were a bit mean in the rejection, but it doesn’t warrant the rest of it.” 

The clips have spread far and wide on TikTok. Some commenters are skeptical of the videos, asking for more context. Other creators have seized on the videos and are weighing in with their takes, casting Barlow as unfit to be mayor.

Barlow’s campaign had already been struggling to gain traction. Polls placed him toward the bottom of nine candidates on the August primary ballot, and he was excluded from the first televised debate. He’s differentiated himself in mayoral forums through his confrontational style. 

Barlow acknowledged that he should have left the group alone after they asked him to leave, but he hoped to explain himself and avoid negative publicity. Barlow said he couldn’t leave because one of the women briefly took his phone, though his experience organizing parties and navigating rowdy guests left Barlow confident he could calm the situation.

“One of the main reasons I did not turn away is because I feel that I’ve been one of the most capable at diffusing and creating some type of amicable resolve,” Barlow said. “As soon as I got my phone back, I should have just walked away rather than getting another 30 to 90 seconds of footage trying to create some type of agreement.”

Barlow said he was trying to tell the group about an initiative he launched to help women get home safely, but “in 20/20 hindsight, I should have just walked away.” 

Comments referencing the situation and calling Barlow abusive have appeared on his campaign account and other videos featuring him. Some comments include speculation that Barlow is inebriated.

Barlow said he looked a little rough because he was exhausted from campaigning. Barlow said he had three drinks throughout the night but wasn’t drunk. 

“I’m always giving women the opportunity to be elevated and supported,” Barlow said. “I would never in my life assault or do anything to a woman that would make them feel unsafe. To be characterized like this is totally just a reflection of our political landscape.” 

The witness who spoke with BridgeDetroit said it’s ridiculous to suggest she and her friends are looking for online clout or a way to impact the election. She hasn’t even been paying attention to the mayoral race.

“This is not me being a part of another campaign, I’m not aligned with anybody. I’m just a random girl on the street. I’m not trying to ruin his life either,” she said. It’s just like – don’t do no weird stuff. I just want to keep people safe.”