By STEVE KARNOWSKI
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota prosecutors filed misdemeanor disorderly conduct charges Tuesday against a woman accused of using a racist slur against a Black child at a playground — an incident the woman has since used to raise more than $800,000 after she appealed for help with relocating.
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“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,” the criminal complaint alleges.
A social media video of the April incident, in which the woman admitted to using the slur, has garnered millions of views. It showed a man confronting her for using the slur toward the child. She then appeared to double down on the racist term and held up a middle finger to the man who challenged her.
As of Tuesday, she had raised over $800,000 on the Christian fundraising platform GiveSendGo — including many donations that came in after the charges were announced — with a stated goal of $1 million. In her last update, in June, the woman claimed she was the victim of “silly misinformation.”
“Big things are happening regarding our future,” she wrote. “Life-changing events are at play, and we have all of YOU to thank for that! I won’t go into specifics, but just know that all is well on our end. … Keep standing up for yourselves, and keep fighting for the First Amendment!”
The woman was charged by summons with three counts of disorderly conduct. Each count carries a maximum potential penalty of 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine, though actual sentences in Minnesota tend to be lighter. Her arraignment was set for Oct. 29.
“This was a situation that deeply affected many people, especially our communities of color, and caused real turmoil in our community,” Mayor Kim Norton said 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.”
While the complaint lists a Rochester address for the defendant, it wasn’t immediately clear if she was still living there, given her stated intention to relocate. The complaint indicated that police attempts to make contact with her were unsuccessful. Court records said she was representing herself.
Initial reports said the young victim was 5 years old, but the criminal complaint said he was 8. The child’s father told police his son is autistic, and due to his disability, he doesn’t understand typical social boundaries and requires intensive parental supervision. At some point while at the park in Rochester, the child took an applesauce pouch from someone else’s diaper bag, it said.
The father saw this and chased him to try to retrieve the food pouch. The defendant also saw it and chased the child, who climbed on playground equipment to try to get away. She repeatedly called him the racial epithet, the complaint said, and grabbed the food item from him.
A different person, who recorded the confrontation on his phone, asked her why she used the slur. The complaint said she admitted to using it and said she could “if he acts like one.” When pressed, the complaint said, she turned her anger to the witness, called him the same epithet, and when confronted about her “hate speech,” she used expletives to indicate she didn’t care.
“Given the sensitive and complicated nature of this case, along with the high level of public attention, completing the necessary reviews and conversations with the victim’s family took longer than usual,” the office of City Attorney Michael Spindler-Krage said in the statement explaining the lengthy investigation.
The NAACP Rochester chapter started its own fundraising campaign for the child’s family. The GoFundMe page had raised $340,000 when it was closed in May, per the family’s wishes.
The organization has been working with the family to pursue legal action against the woman in the video, said the chapter’s president Walé Elegbede.
“Their child was victimized and traumatized with the racist and hateful rhetoric and actions,” he said. “It’s not just the child; the family was impacted.”
Elegbede commended the city attorney’s office for bringing charges, calling it the “first step” to pursue “justice and accountability”.
“If you have a child and you’re going to the park, you want to enjoy the park,” he said. “And if the child does something, a responsible adult will talk to the child with empathy, not with hate and vitriol. And that’s where she chose to take it. And when she had opportunities, there was no remorse whatsoever.”
Associated Press writer Sarah Raza contributed to this story from Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
