On the first day of the Washington v. Robert Barber trial, the state called to the stand the victim, a friend of the victim and a party attendee who captured video of the fight for which Barber faces a felony assault charge.

In their opening statements, both prosecuting attorney Daniel LeBeau and Barber’s attorney Steve Graham discussed the events at a house party held at Phi Sigma Kappa’s live out, known as “The Palace,” on July 22, 2016.

While LeBeau explained how Barber punched Jackson Raney, a resident of The Palace at the time, knocking him down and then punching him again, rendering him unconscious, Graham said this was Barber acting in self-defense and defense of others.

WSU student Sasha Hamirani attended the July party and has known Raney, who also spoke as a witness today, for two and a half years. The day after the alleged assault, she reached out on Facebook and asked if anyone had any footage of the fight from the night before. Hamirani said this was part of gathering evidence to figure out who caused the injuries to Raney and his roommate, Alex Rodriguez.

Nicholas Bowe, a WSU student at the time, attended the party as well and took two Snapchat videos of the fight, which were shown in court today during his testimony as a witness. One of the videos shows Barber punching Raney, who stumbles and falls to the ground. Graham asked the jury to think about what would have led Barber to use that kind of force on someone in order to keep them from continuing their current actions.

Graham also asked Hamirani why she didn’t speak to the authorities that night. She said she doesn’t remember if she spoke to the authorities, and that she was more focused on taking care of Raney, who was still unconscious and bleeding out of his head. Later that week, she brought the video footage and all evidence with her to the police station and spent at least an hour and a half talking to police officers.

Hamirani said she had about two and a half drinks that night and, for her 5-foot-11-inch frame, it was not enough for her to feel drunk. She said the party had a “good vibe” until it was interrupted with destruction of property and fireworks.

“There was a lot of solidarity between everyone,” Hamirani said of the party earlier in the night.

She remembered football players, including Barber, Shalom Luani and Logan Tago, setting off the fireworks in the corner of the backyard. The first time they set them off, Raney said he came out and told them to stop, which they agreed to do.

Then they set them off again, and this time Raney said he came out and told them forcefully to leave, eventually using expletives but never reacting physically.

“There’s no need for fireworks at a party,” Bowe said.

Hamirani said she recalls the fireworks going off a few times and Raney looking upset and saying he wished they would leave. She said she told him he could tell them to leave as it was his house.

One of the fireworks went off into the middle of the crowd, Hamirani said.

Around this time is when the fight broke out, though who started it was not clear from the testimony and statements in court Monday.

During his opening statement, Graham said Raney and Rodriguez were pushing people out belligerently, and Barber felt a threat to his safety and the safety of those around him, so he made a split-second decision to stop Raney from continuing to push people.

When Hamirani came back out to the backyard, the fighting had already started. She turned around and saw Raney on the ground. Hamirani said she pushed Barber as far away from Raney as possible because she was worried for Raney’s safety, and stood as close as she could to her unconscious friend without standing over him.

“It was terrifying and infuriating,” Hamirani said.

Graham asked Hamirani if her split-second decision to protect Raney could be considered the same as Barber’s split-second decision to protect those around him. Hamirani said no, because Barber punched Raney, knocking him to the ground, and then punched him again, and Raney wasn’t even looking at him or provoking him at the time Barber decided to punch him from the side.

“I feel [Graham] attempted to get aggressive, but I diffused the situation with logic,” Hamirani said.

Hamirani said she is also friends with Rodriguez, who was injured during the same fight, but there was not enough evidence to prove who caused his injuries. He will not be getting a trial, she said, which is a “complete injustice.”

The trial will continue at 9 a.m. tomorrow, with the state calling forth its final witness, Detective Scott Patrick.