Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) agents arrested Martese Johnson, 20, outside a Charlottesville's pub early on Wednesday, sparking protests at the University of Virginia.
A video and photos of Mr Johnson covered in blood and being pushed to the ground were widely circulated.
The white agents said Mr Johnson "was very agitated and belligerent".
But Bryan Beaubrun, a University of Virginia (UVA) student who photographed the arrest, said police acted with unnecessary force.
"He didn't need to be tackled. He wasn't being aggressive at all," Mr Beaubrun told the Associated Press.
In a statement, ABC says that "uniformed ABC Agents observed and approached" an unidentified individual "after he was refused entry to a licensed establishment" just after midnight on Wednesday in an area of bars and restaurants near the university campus known as "the Corner."
According to court records Mr Johnson was charged with obstruction of justice without force, and public swearing or intoxication.
"Governor McAuliffe is concerned by the reports of this incident and has asked the secretary of public safety to initiate an independent Virginia State Police investigation into the use of force," the Democratic governor's office said.
