May 3, 2025
The Rochester NAACP issued a statement indicating that it ‘stands in solidarity with the impacted child’
A Minnesota woman identified as Shiloh Hendrix has reportedly raised over $500,000 through a crowdfunding campaign she described as a “relocation fund.” The fundraiser comes after she was filmed at a public park using the n-word toward a Black five-year-old child. According to witnesses, Hendrix justified the slur by claiming the child had been going through her own child’s belongings.
According to NBC News, the woman’s identity has not yet been confirmed by the police as they continue to investigate, but the man who recorded the interaction, a man of Somali heritage, 30-year-old Sharmake Omar, told the outlet that once he intervened, the woman turned her anger on him instead of the five-year-old Somali child who reportedly is on the autism spectrum.
According to Omar, the woman also made a comment to him that he and his wife shouldn’t have more children because they are a drain on the welfare system, despite the woman not knowing Omar or if he was even married. More importantly, Omar described a child who was disturbed by what happened to him.
“That little boy…was visibly upset by the incident,” Omar told NBC News.
On May 1, the Rochester NAACP issued a statement indicating that it “stands in solidarity with the impacted child,” while Walé Elegbede, the Rochester NAACP president, indicated that the organization is taking the incident very seriously.
“This is a very serious situation, and we are treating it as such. A public park should be a place of joy and safety. What we witnessed in that video was vile, hate speech, dehumanizing, and racist. Since the incident surfaced, I’ve corresponded and spoken with legal representatives from our local branch, our regional NAACP Minnesota and Dakotas Area State Conference, and the National NAACP to determine appropriate next steps. Our children are sacred—and our community demands accountability.”
He continued, “Last year, following a rise in hate incidents, I said: ‘Not in our town will children feel unsafe. Not in our town will racism be tolerated. Not in our town will hatred find a home. And in our town, love wins.’ In order for this to be a reality, however, it requires accountability and justice. When no one is held accountable for such despicable acts, it sends the message that this behavior is acceptable. We reject that notion entirely. For Black people and all people of color to thrive in Rochester, we must ensure safety, dignity, and justice for every member of our community.”
To that end, the Rochester NAACP started a GoFundMe in defense of the five-year-old, which has raised $324,847 as of the time of writing. Per their fundraiser, the woman started her own petition, which raised almost $150,000 in 24 hours of its existence, which the Rochester NAACP called “shocking.”
Per the NAACP’s fundraiser, “Let us be clear: this was not a misunderstanding or a moment of poor judgment—this was a deliberate, racist, and threatening attack on a young Black child. Public parks should be safe, welcoming places for all children and families—not sites of hate and trauma…This is about more than one incident. It’s about who we are as a community and what we choose to stand for. Help us match the funds raised in defense of hate with an equal force of love, justice, and action. Let’s turn outrage into impact. Stand with us. Stand for this child. Justice must be served.”
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