I guess free speech is dead?
You may remember this story from back in late April (the summer goes by fast, doesn't it?) 👇
From our report at the time:
Rochester, Minnesota, mom Shiloh Hendrix was at the playground at Soldiers Field Park. She says a young black child was rummaging through her 18-month-old son's diaper bag. She apparently called him the N-word in response.
That's when a Somalian man by the name of Sharmake Beyle Omar began filming her, harassing her, and following her to her car, as seen above.
Hendrix was perhaps the first case in recent history to not get "canceled" for saying the N-word. While a large swath of the population on the political left called for her to be financially destroyed and legally prosecuted (or worse), she successfully raised $800,000 to help her family.
On June 24, she posted her most recent message thanking her supporters with this update:
We are still receiving donations on the daily, and we are so grateful for the continued love and support.
I will keep you all updated when new events arise. Keep standing up for yourselves, and keep fighting for the First Amendment!
Long gone are the days when people would be shy about donating to a centrist like Mitt Romney for fear of being canceled. Now a mom who went viral explicitly for saying the N-word has raised almost a million dollars in defense of free speech, even if she said something vile.
Now she has been charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct.
From the Rochester Post Bulletin:
The Rochester City Attorney's Office said it is filing a misdemeanor complaint summons in the case involving Shiloh Hendrix, the woman caught on video using a racial slur at a Rochester park. The draft complaint is still subject to review and approval by a district court judge before it is formally filed.
The draft complaint charges Hendrix with three counts of disorderly conduct. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail and/or a $1,000 fine.
Did we miss the part of the Constitution where it says certain magical words are off limits?
More:
In the announcement of the filing, the Rochester City Attorney's Office acknowledged the four-month gap between the incident and the charging decision.
'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 announcement said. '(T)he City recognizes not only the significant attention and emotion surrounding this case, but also the complex and lasting impacts situations like this have on communities of color and our broader community.'
The "impact" of words isn't a factor under the First Amendment.
If a black person says something mean to a white person, it is just as hurtful, but Marxism teaches we need to treat people differently based on perceived power dynamics around social classes (skin colors).
In its filing, the City Attorney's Office says a Somali father of three was at the park with his "visibly autistic" 8-year-old boy, "Y.J.," who took an applesauce pouch from Hendrix's diaper bag.
Defendant became very angry while chasing Y.J. Defendant shouted at him and repeatedly used a racial epithet (the N-word; Y.J. is of Somali background,) causing Y.J. to freeze. Based on her anger and her words, S.H.J. [the father] feared that defendant may strike Y.J. Defendant angrily grabbed the food item from Y.J.
Note: She didn't strike the kid. It just says the father felt she might strike the kid.
This is when Sharmake Beyle Omar approached Hendrix and began filming.
Defendant admitted to calling the child the N-word, stating that she can call him that 'if he acts like one.' When pressed further, defendant turned her anger toward the man taking the video, raising her middle finger at him, cursing at him and repeatedly using the same epithet against him (the N-word.) When asked if she was about to hit the child, she said 'Yeah! He took my son's stuff!' and said 'That little ***ing kid did...' When confronted about her use of 'hate speech' defendant twice stated 'I don't give a s***.' followed by '*** off!'
Per the city attorney's own report, the woman didn't hurt anyone. She "angrily grabbed" her food back from a kid and then got angry at a man who was confronting/filming her. Because of this, one might wonder what grounds the city attorney has for "disorderly conduct" charges.
But Hendrix did say a bad word. A hateful word.
As a reminder, the Somali migrant who filmed her was a man who had been charged with child molestation. Though the charges were dropped, he was hanging around a playground. He then said the same word repeatedly as he confronted Hendrix.
[Warning: Strong Language]
The city attorney is not charging Sharmake Beyle Omar, however.
Huh.
P.S. Now check out our latest video 👇
