A social media celebrity joins the list of online stars who’ve been taken into custody after he allegedly punched a man in the face on Dec. 29 at an Aspen hotel.

Cameron Dallas, 24, was at the Hyatt Grand Aspen when he lost his temper and supposedly attacked a man after he made unwelcome sexual advances on Dallas’ male friend, then refused to leave their hotel room.

Dallas posted a picture of his mugshot on Instagram – where he has over 21 million followers – only two days after his arrest, claiming his aggressive actions at the hotel were derived from self-defense.

“Unfortunately sometimes in life, you find yourself in a situation where you have to protect yourself and the people you care about,” Dallas wrote on Instagram. “have a safe and happy new year, 2019 is going to be an amazing one.”

At around 5 a.m., police officials were notified about the incident and arrived at the hotel, where Dallas was staying and conversed with the bleeding 34-year-old man who told them he had been assaulted.

The man was taken to Aspen Valley Hospital where he was treated for a fractured nose as well as a broken jaw. Bill Linn, the Assistant Chief of the Aspen Police Department, affirmed that those injuries – known as “serious bodily injury” – are the foundation for the felony charge against Dallas.

“A felony is the most serious level of criminal cases available in the state of Colorado. Mr. Dallas was arrested with a felony for second-degree assault, and that is all based on the level of injury that the victim, in this case, suffered,” Linn said. “With every criminal case, it’s not our job to punish people. Our job is to hopefully send them into the court system and the goal of all of it is to keep bad things from happening and to help people learn life lessons.”

In his explanation, Dallas told Aspen police that he and several of his friends were at Bootsy Bellows nightclub in downtown Aspen earlier that evening when the 34-year-old man “involved himself with this group of friends,” as stated by the affidavit. From then on, the man “kept getting weird,” causing Dallas to use physical aggression as self-defense.

Although Dallas imparts that his vulnerability in the situation was the leading cause of his violence, Office Linn explained his use of self-defense as justification for his actions does not nullify him from prosecution.

“There is a common misconception where people think that a person shouldn’t be arrested if they are merely defending themselves… but that’s not how it works. Self-defense is actually a situation where it’s an affirmative offense – it doesn’t mean you don’t get arrested, but it is a way of saying to the court once you are arrested, ‘Yes, I did commit this certain act but I have this reason behind it,’” said Linn.

Meanwhile, AHS students are grappling with where to draw the line between defending oneself and being outright hostile and violent.

Senior Phineas Henry believes that “his actions are justified,” and that all men should have a right to protect themselves against threatening people or dangerous situations.

“Sometimes, you need to use self-defense to get your words out. If someone is forcing themselves onto you and being aggressive and inappropriate, then that’s the road you have to take and I respect Cameron for that,” said Henry.

On the other hand, Sophomore Evelyn Leibinger believes that rather than self-defense, Dallas was merely seeking attention and publicity in his act of violence.

“I’ve always thought he’s a bad influence and an obnoxious person who thinks he can do whatever he wants. Even when he gets caught, he isn’t phased because he knows how easily he can get out of it. I think he was bored and instead of calmly resolving the issue like a normal person, he stirred things up for the attention and fame,” said Leibinger.

As Dallas has an upcoming court date in Aspen for a final consensus, sophomore Lucy Lampe expressed his fan’s hopefulness that Dallas will surpass and this difficult life trial.

“I’ve been following Cameron for years on social media, and I have some of his songs downloaded. I really like him and I didn’t think he would ever do something that violent. I hope he moves past this hard time in his life because he really is a good person and an inspiration, and he just made a mistake,” said Lampe.