Prosecutors in Minnesota recently filed new charges against a white woman who used a racial slur against a Black child at a playground.
Announced on Tuesday by the city attorney, the charges include three counts of misdemeanor disorderly conduct. As of now, she has not been formally charged. The draft of the criminal complaint will be reviewed and approved by a District Court judge in order to do so. Each count comes with a maximum of 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.
According to the complaint, the woman herself could not be contacted, despite police reports. Following the viral social media video in which she admitted to using the racial slur, she raised more than $800,000 on the Christian-based fundraising platform GiveSendGo for help with moving following the announcement of the charges.
“This was a situation that deeply affected many people, especially our communities of color, and caused real turmoil in our community,” said Mayor Kim Norton in a statement. “We acknowledge the lasting impact this incident has had, not only on those directly involved and across our community, but also in the broader conversations happening at the state and national level.”
Posted in April, the video shows the woman admitting to using the racial slur against a little boy at a Rochester park, claiming that she “can call him that ‘if he acts like one.’” The witness who filmed the video confronted her for it, after which she also called the man a slur on video.
According to the complaint, the victim was an eight-year-old boy from Somalia and is autistic. The child allegedly took an applesauce pouch from the woman’s diaper bag. His father chased him down to retrieve the food pouch, as he told police the child has difficulty with social boundaries.
The woman also continued to chase the child, who climbed upon the playground equipment to get away. She promptly grabbed the pouch from him, repeatedly calling him the racial slur.
Following the publishing of the video, the Rochester chapter of the NAACP held a town hall, calling out the woman for her actions. The group also began a GoFundMe for the child and his family, raising nearly $342,000 in funds before the family requested its closure.
“Defendant wrongfully and unlawfully engaged in offensive, obscene, abusive, boisterous, or noisy conduct, or in offensive, obscene, or abusive language that would reasonably tend to arouse alarm, anger or resentment in others,” wrote the prosecutors in their criminal complaint.
