A video of a Rochester, Minnesota, mom appearing to hurl a racist slur at a Black child on a city playground earlier this week has been circulating widely across social media, garnering criticism from many viewers and a half-million dollars in donations from others.
The online donations poured in alongside notes expressing far-right and racist sympathies, prompting a decision to mute comments by the Christian crowdfunding service hosting the campaign, which has been used to raise money for Daniel Penny, Luigi Mangione and Kyle Rittenhouse.
The woman’s fundraiser prompted the local NAACP chapter in Rochester to start its own crowdfunding campaign for the family of the 5-year-old, who the group said had been called the n-word multiple times. The NAACP chapter had raised more than $320,000 by Saturday afternoon.
“Shockingly, the woman responsible for this hateful act has launched a fundraising campaign for herself,” the Rochester NAACP said. “… Many of the comments from her supporters celebrate and justify her hate. We’ve been asked by countless community members how they can help. This campaign is our answer.”
A fundraiser on GiveSendGo titled “Help Me Protect My Family” was started by Shiloh Hendrix, who identified herself as the mother who appeared to use the slur in the video. Hendrix did not respond to a request for comment Saturday.
Hendrix’s fundraiser, which attracted accounts signing off with names and comments referencing Holocaust denial and white nationalism, stated she had been harassed online after the video drew millions of views across TikTok, Twitter and Reddit and needed to raise money to relocate. The incident on video started after Hendrix accused the Black child of stealing from her child’s diaper bag, according to the fundraiser.
“I called the kid out for what he was,” Hendrix’s fundraiser reads, adding that a man then began filming her and later posted the video of the encounter online, “which has caused my family, and myself, great turmoil.”
Jacob Wells, the founder and chief executive of GiveSendGo, told The Washington Post in a statement that his team was aware of the concerns surrounding Hendrix’s fundraiser and restricted comments “due to the volume of inappropriate remarks that violated our policies.”
“We understand the sensitivity of this situation and the strong emotions it has evoked,” Wells added. “GiveSendGo does not endorse or condone the personal views or actions of individual campaign organizers or their supporters, nor do we control the motivations of donors.”
NBC News identified the man who filmed the encounter as Sharmake Omar, 30. He did not respond to multiple requests for comment Saturday. In the exchange between Omar and the woman, Omar is heard on video confronting her about her alleged use of the n-word toward the Black child.
The woman, who appeared to carry her own child, responded that it wasn’t any of Omar’s business, then stuck her tongue out at him and flipped her middle finger.
“Why don’t you have the balls to say it right now again?” Omar asked her, to which she appeared to respond by using the racial slur once more.
On video, the woman alleged that the child was “digging” through her own child’s belongings. Omar asked why she insisted on calling the child a slur, to which she replied, “If that’s what he’s going to act like.”
In her fundraiser, Hendrix called attention to Omar’s criminal record, which includes traffic violations and dropped charges related to a sexual assault case from January 2022. Omar told the local media outlet KIMT News 3 that social media users were citing his initial arrest to harass him.
The city of Rochester addressed the recording in a statement posted to Facebook on Thursday, calling the footage “deeply disturbing.” Local law enforcement is “looking into the matter,” the city wrote.
“The City of Rochester is firmly committed to fostering public spaces that are inclusive, welcoming, and safe for all residents and visitors – spaces where individuals of all backgrounds can relax, play, and connect with friends and neighbors,” the statement read. “We remain committed to that goal.”
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