Utah State Workplace of the Governor
Viral video footage of a number of Utah teenagers sporting jail uniforms and blackface for Halloween has drawn widespread condemnation on social media, with the state’s governor even becoming a member of in to slam their actions.
“We strongly condemn racism in all its varieties and we name on each Utahn to reject such offensive stereotypes, slurs and attitudes,” Cox instructed The Every day Beast in an announcement. “We should do higher.”
The video was initially uploaded to TikTok by @thebrownestsugar, however was later shared by person Karessa Pitcher on Twitter.
“My classmate posted this 2 hrs in the past, from the Walmart in Cedar Metropolis, Utah,” Pitcher wrote on Tuesday within the now-deleted tweet. “Idk how they’re [sic] dad and mom allow them to get away with this or how they are often so silly and racist however for this reason essential race idea must be the usual in class."
The video exhibits a bunch of white teenagers standing round collectively within the Walmart. Three of the boys are wearing Jim Crow-era jail chain gang uniforms and sporting blackface. They've black, long-sleeved shirts underneath the uniforms, and their arms are additionally painted black.
Within the video, the trio are standing with 5 different folks, together with a lady dressed as a police officer with aviator sun shades and a pair of handcuffs. The clip begins with the group instantly laughing on the particular person filming them.
“Do you guys perceive the results of what you’ve simply achieved?” the particular person asks the group.
Two children standing on the proper stare blankly on the digicam.
“You guys should not going to get into a university. You guys should not going to get any scholarships as a result of this can be a hate crime.”
“All of us dropped out of highschool,” one other boy in a brown-striped shirt says with a cheeky smirk.
The lady dressed as a cop and the boys wearing jail uniforms then get away in laughter.
“I nonetheless don’t assume it’s applicable for you guys to be doing this,” the particular person filming says.
Somebody off digicam tells the group that they're inflicting a scene and that it’s time for them to go away.
“It’s actually not humorous,” the particular person filming says earlier than the group disperses.
Cedar Metropolis Police Sgt. Justin Ludlow confirmed with the Deseret Information that the incident was filmed at an area Walmart on Halloween, including that somebody who witnessed the ordeal referred to as the division.
The clip brought about a wave of reactions on-line.
“They're sick[;] racists taught to be racist by their racist household. They have been warned about penalties, quickly they’ll fake they're sorry for his or her racist costumes,” a Twitter person wrote.
“Yearly a non-trivial quantity of white children go, ‘that is the 12 months i smash my future with a horrific costume,’” one other person tweeted.
“Didn’t anyone within the group cease and assume? The place are the dad and mom on this?” a social media person tweeted. “So many misses right here, beginning with these dressed up inappropriately and encompassing all of the family and friends who stated nothing.”
“Simply once I assume that I can’t get extra disgusted! That is past horrifying as a result of they see completely nothing mistaken with this!” a particular person commented underneath the video on TikTok.
Cox’s public info officer instructed The Every day Beast that the incident is underneath investigation.