One of two young women seen in a viral video making racist gestures outside the apartment of three Black Ole Miss students has apologized for her actions.
Alaina Kunes, 18, said in a statement Tuesday that she didn’t know the people who lived in the apartment and was “unaware of their race” until video from the Ring doorbell camera that captured the moment Friday gained national attention.
The video shows Kunes and two other women walking outside the front door of the off-campus apartment where the three Black Ole Miss students live. Kunes is seen hitting his chest. She and a second woman, who has not been identified and who has not commented on the incident, make monkey noises. A third woman in the video passes without stopping at the door.
“To the women I offended and to the Ole Miss community, I sincerely apologize,” Kunes said in his statement. “I recognize that my actions were insensitive, inappropriate and deeply harmful. »
Kunes said she apologized to the women who live directly in the apartment. “I pray they forgive me,” she said.
“I can never truly understand the pain I caused them and that was never my intention. These girls deserve to feel seen and understood and what I did does not reflect who I am trying to become,” Kunes said.
The University of Mississippi has opened an investigation into the incident, Shawnboda Mead, the school’s vice chancellor for student affairs, said in an email sent to campus Sunday.
In it, Mead described the viral video as “showing University of Mississippi students engaging in racist gestures directed at other students.”
Kunes has since withdrawn from college, a source close to the 18-year-old told NBC News. It is unclear what the registration status of the other women in the video is.
The University of Mississippi did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
Tasha Bolton, the mother of one of the three Black Ole Miss students, wrote about the incident in a Facebook post Saturday. Bolton said her daughter was a freshman in college and living in an off-campus apartment with two black roommates. She described the women captured on the doorbell camera as her daughter’s neighbors upstairs.
“This is absolutely disgusting and unacceptable. College is supposed to be a place where young adults can learn, grow and feel safe,” Bolton said of the video in his post. “We want answers. Specifically, what steps will be taken to combat this behavior and ensure accountability?”
Kunes said she intends to cooperate fully with the university’s investigation.
“I would never have intentionally made these noises or gestures towards a person of color,” she said in her statement apologizing for the incident. “I understand the seriousness of this situation and I remain determined to take responsibility and learn from this embarrassing ordeal.”
Kunes also asked for her and her family’s privacy and said they had been harassed in recent days and received death threats.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi is also reviewing complaints it received about the incident, Candi Richardson, the organization’s director of communications and community engagement, said Monday.
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