The family of a child targeted by a racist rant at a Rochester playground says they "no longer feel safe" in their community and are demanding justice.
On Thursday, the Rochester NAACP released the statement of the family while also calling for "swift and transparent legal action" due to the incident.
"According to video evidence, an adult white female traumatized, chased, and hurled vicious racial slurs at this child in Soldiers Field Park in Rochester, Minnesota and showed no remorse for her actions against a vulnerable child," the NAACP said.
The organization says several criminal charges should be considered, including disorderly conduct, bias-motivated assault and harassment.
The viral video captures Sharmake Omar confronting a woman about calling a child a racist slur at Roy Sutherland Playground. Omar said he took the video to protect himself and to show people the hate that took place at that park. In the video, the woman admits to calling the boy a racial slur.
The woman accused the boy of stealing from her child's diaper bag, according to the description of an online fundraiser she created. She says she started the fundraiser to protect her family. It has raised over $700,000.
NAACP Rochester also created an online fundraiser, which it says was meant to support the boy and his family.
The organization said there were initial false claims from individuals purporting to be the affected family, but no funding was directed their way. The correct family has since been verified by police and made contact with the NAACP, the organization said.
In its statement, the family says the event caused "much pain and many sleepless nights" and demands "justice for our family, the public, and the larger community."
Read the full statement below.
We are the parents of the young boy who is the victim of racial slurs and assault at Soldier's Field in Rochester, MN, and here is our statement.
We thank the Rochester Police Department for their thorough investigation and contacts with our family during this difficult time.
We thank the NAACP Rochester, MN Branch, for their steadfast support and advocacy in ensuring our child and family get justice.
We thank the NAACP Rochester, MN Branch, for their steadfast support and advocacy in ensuring our child and family get justice.
This event caused our family much pain and many sleepless nights. It negatively impacts the well-being of all our family members and the quality of our lives. We no longer feel safe in our home and our community. It impacted us mentally, physically, financially, and emotionally, and still, our children are afraid of going to the public parks and playgrounds. We constantly worried about our surroundings. We all experienced the racial trauma that occurred.
It will take years for our family, especially our children, to recover from the painful event and experience.
We ask the public and the authorities to protect our identity and privacy. As parents, our priority is to focus on providing our children with the care, safety, and protection they need. And connect them with the resources in the community to address their trauma and pain. We are working with the NAACP Rochester, MN, Branch on resources to address this trauma and pain.
We condemn any hate based on race, ethnicity, religion, or color
We demand justice for our family, the public, and the larger community. And to hold the perpetrator accountable for her actions.
Thank you for your outpouring of support, kindness, and being with us during this difficult time.
Thank you
The Rochester Police Department has completed an investigation into the video, according to KIMT-TV, and findings have been submitted to the city's attorney's office for review.
Cole Premo
Cole Premo is digital manager for CBS Minnesota. For more than a decade, he's been covering breaking news and weather, daily topics, stories from the Native community and more in Minnesota.