Minnesota woman raises $500K after hurling racist slur at black child in viral video

A woman in Rochester, Minnesota, has raised more than $500,000 through a crowdfunding campaign after a viral video appeared to show her using a racial slur against a Black child at a city playground.

The incident, filmed by bystander Sharmake Omar, gained widespread attention on social media platforms including TikTok, Twitter, and Reddit.

The video shows the woman, identified as Shiloh Hendrix, confronting a young boy whom she accused of taking items from her child's diaper bag. During the exchange, Hendrix is allegedly heard using the n-word in reference to the child. When questioned by Omar, who recorded the incident, Hendrix is seen responding with further inappropriate gestures and appears to repeat the slur.

Following the video’s release, Hendrix launched a fundraiser on the Christian crowdfunding site GiveSendGo titled “Help Me Protect My Family,” claiming she had been subjected to online harassment and needed to relocate. The campaign has drawn backlash, with reports of comments expressing white nationalist and Holocaust-denial sentiments, prompting GiveSendGo to restrict public comments on the page.

Jacob Wells, CEO of GiveSendGo, stated that the platform does not endorse the personal views of campaign organisers and restricted comments due to violations of its policies.

In response, the Rochester branch of the NAACP initiated a separate fundraiser to support the family of the five-year-old child involved in the incident. The group stated that the child had been called the slur multiple times and criticised the support Hendrix had received. The NAACP’s campaign raised over $320,000 by Saturday afternoon.

The city of Rochester released a statement describing the footage as “deeply disturbing” and confirmed that law enforcement is investigating the matter.