ROCHESTER — A crowdfunding campaign raised more than $340,000 for the family of
a 5-year-old child who had racial slurs directed toward him at the local park.
The Rochester Branch of the NAACP announced in a press release on Saturday night, May 3, that
the GoFundMe campaign was stopped at the request of the boy’s family
. The campaign, which had a goal of $250,000, garnered $341,484.
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“From the beginning, this campaign was rooted in a powerful truth: no child should ever be dehumanized, and love must always be louder than hate,” the release said. “People from across the country and around the world responded, sending a clear message that this child, this family, and this moment matter.”
The crowdfunding effort comes after a viral video in Rochester depicted a man confronting a woman for calling a Black child a racial slur at the Soldiers Field Park playground.
Though the original video was taken down, Michael McWhorter, known online as TizzyEnt, reposted it Wednesday, April 30, to his more than 9.5 million followers across TikTok, Instagram, X and YouTube. The video had more than 10.1 million views as of Friday morning.
Walé Elegbede, president of the Rochester Branch of the NAACP, called the video “deeply disturbing,” and the local NAACP branch has requested that the incident be investigated.
The Rochester Police Department is aware of the video and is “gathering information and actively looking into the matter,” Amanda Grayson, communications coordinator for the department, told the Post Bulletin on Thursday.
The funds from the campaign are going to “legal redress and social justice efforts” and “legal advocacy, accountability, and restorative efforts” for the child and his family, according to the GoFundMe page.
The NAACP said all of the money, minus standard GoFundMe fees, will be given to the family in a trust account with the parents serving as executors. “The responsibility of the trust account will rest solely with the family,” the release said.
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“We want to be clear: No member of the Rochester Branch of the NAACP has received — or will receive — funds from these donations,” the release said. “We stand in full solidarity with the child and his family — and with all those who believe in building a community where dignity, justice, and love prevail. We are united in saying ‘Not In Our Town.’ ”
was created by the woman who claims to be in the video.
In the crowdfunding campaign created by the user “Shiloh Hendrix,” she claims her Social Security number, home address, phone number and place where she works out have all been leaked to the public.
Hendrix alleges the child stole from her son’s diaper bag. She also claims the individual who stepped in to film the video proceeded to follow her to her car and that the man has a criminal history. The Post Bulletin has attempted to reach out to the individual who recorded the video.
Hendrix has upped her goal to $1 million. As of Saturday night, more than $500,000 has been given to her campaign.
A separate crowdfunding fundraiser in response to Hendrix’s campaign was created Friday morning, May 2, by Non-Profit Wrench Inc. The Kasson-based business aims to raise money for “local BIPOC clients of Non-Profit Wrench Inc. dealing with poverty,” the fundraiser said.
The GoFundMe campaign, called “Stand Against Racism: Help Rochester BIPOC Thrive,” set a goal of $25,000.
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The viral video marks the third prominent incident involving race to happen in Rochester over the past year.
In April 2024, a racial slur was
spelled out using plastic cups in the chain-link fence
on the pedestrian bridge over East Circle Drive near Century High School.
After RPD learned the identities of the four teenagers responsible for the act, former Olmsted County Attorney Mark Ostrem said
his office would not file charges in the case
. While the incident was offensive, Ostrem wrote at the time, it has protection under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Four months later, in August, Rep. Kim Hicks, a first-term DFL member of the Minnesota House,
found racist graffiti painted on her shed
, a swastika on a window of her home, and paint over all but one of the surveillance cameras around her house.
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