A Minnesota woman, who raised over $800,000 after she hurled a racial slur at a Black child during a confrontation at a playground in April, has been charged in connection with the incident.
As previously reported by Face2Face Africa, the White woman was recorded calling the 5-year-old boy the racial slur, and the man who witnessed her actions was identified as Sharmake Omar. The woman now faces misdemeanor disorderly conduct charges that were filed against her on August 26, The Associated Press reported.
“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 states.
In the aftermath of the April incident, the woman, who also admitted to hurling the racial slur at the minor, set up a fundraiser to raise money to enable her to relocate with her family because they were allegedly being threatened. She also claimed their relocation was necessary because her personal details had been leaked. More than $800,000 has since been raised for her.
The woman went viral on social media for her actions. In the video in question, Omar, who is also Black, is heard confronting the woman after she allegedly hurled the racial slur at the minor. When Omar asks the woman if she indeed used that offensive language, she replies “Yeah.”
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“He took my son’s stuff,” the woman is heard saying. Omar is also heard asking her if the minor’s actions warranted her use of the racial slur. “If that’s what he’s going to act like,” she is heard saying before she repeatedly hurls out the N-word again at Omar.
In an interview with NBC News, Omar said the 5-year-old suffered from autism and his parents hail from Somalia. He also said the minor’s parents were attending to their three other children when the woman confronted the boy.
“That little boy … was visibly upset by the incident,” Omar recalled. Besides using the racial slur, the woman is also accused of telling Omar that he and his wife should stop conceiving more children because they are negatively impacting the welfare system. Minnesota is known for being a refugee haven.
The woman is facing three counts of disorderly conduct, and she was charged by summons, per The Associated Press. She faces up to 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine if she’s convicted of each count. Her next court date was scheduled for October 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.”
Though the woman’s address is declared as Rochester in the complaint, it could not be established if she had not relocated or was still residing there. The complaint also stated that police had so far been unable to get in touch with her.
