Viral video captures brawl at the Alaska State Fair; Bystander helps disarm one person involved

Crowd Management Services employees and at least one civilian bystander worked to stop a brawl and disarm at least one person involved in the physical altercation during the final evening of the 2025 Alaska State Fair in Palmer Sept. 1.

Part of the incident captured on video, that quickly went viral on social media, shows multiple individuals involved in a fight in the midway area of the fairgrounds.

Alaska State Fair marketing and communications director Melissa Keefe said fair security (CMS) was able to respond very quickly.

“CMS and Alaska State Fair management became aware of the incident almost immediately due to having personnel staged at the location of the incident who immediately called it in. In addition, law enforcement was called shortly thereafter,” Keefe said in a statement released to the Frontiersman.

The video shows one man, not wearing CMS or fair beverage control jackets, who stepped in to help, and appears to help disarm one of the brawlers.

“The Alaska State Fair commends the civilian for his actions to assist CMS in disarming the individual. His actions were heroic. In addition, the actions of several unarmed CMS staff who took action to de-escalate the physical altercations taking place simultaneously during the incident should also be commended,” Keefe said.

Keefe called this type of incident on the state fairgrounds, “rare,” but fair officials always have plans of action in place.

“ASF’s Safety Plan has multiple action plans based on the situation. Specifically, if weapons are involved, law enforcement is contacted immediately, while we simultaneously work to de-escalate and end the threat using tactics necessary to ensure the safety of everyone in the vicinity,” Keefe said. “Notably, securing any weapon is CMS’s number one priority if law enforcement is not at the scene yet. The Alaska State Fair is private property and firearms are strictly prohibited on our grounds.”

Keefe said the number of individuals in this case did present a challenge.

“The Alaska State Fair and CMS had its full incident response procedure in place, which in short, was to de-escalate the situation and end the physical confrontation in any safe manner possible. What made this situation difficult is that within the altercation, there were multiple individuals engaged in physical confrontations with one another simultaneously. CMS actions should be commended for their response time, but also for their actions of breaking up the incident in the manner in which they did,” Keefe said.

Keefe said the Palmer Police Department responded to the scene.

“Several individuals involved were taken away from the scene for questioning by law enforcement,” Keefe said.

PPD is handling the investigation, Keefe said.

This was the second physical altercation caught on video and posted on social media during the 2025 fair.

PPD is also investigating a physical incident involving three of its officers at the Alaska State Fair on Aug. 24.

This video shows a man holding a young child. Three officers made contact with the man. As one officer attempts to remove the young child from the man’s grasp, as seen in the recording, a second officer applies a chokehold on the man. A third officer helped force the man to the ground, appears to throw multiple punches to the man’s midsection and use a Taser on the man, as the man continued to be held in the chokehold by the second officer.

The video went viral on popular social media platforms such as TikTok and Facebook.

Palmer Police identified the man as 22-year-old Jeffry Cook-Reed. The officers in the video are Officer Rachel Moyer, Officer Ryan Ogden and Sergeant Perry Morgan, Palmer Police Commander Like Szipsky told the Frontiersman.

“The two officers, involved in the arrest down to the ground, are currently on administrative leave pending the results of use of force investigation,” Szipskzy said.

Palmer Dispatch received a 911 call at about 8 p.m. Aug. 24, alleging that Cook-Reed was causing a disturbance near the purple gate on the state fairgrounds. The caller reported Cook-Reed was, “allegedly walking away with a baby while screaming and yelling,” PPD said in a statement released Tuesday. The caller also alleged Cook-Reed, “had been drinking, was driving and smelled strongly of alcohol.”

Contact Frontiersman managing editor Jeremiah Bartz at editor@frontiersman.com.