Scrolling through TikTok could send you through several different emotions in a very short span of time. You can go from laughing at a funny cat video to crying at someone’s inspiring life story to angrily shaking your head at another racist group of kids. Well, the latter was me last night. A TikTok went viral of a group of kids dressed up as cops and in blackface wearing striped prisoner costumes.
According to The Salt Lake Tribune, the police are investigating the situation.
I don’t know what was more amusing, seeing the video myself and planning on writing on it or waking up to find an investigation is pending on that very video. In the TikTok, a girl is seen in a Walmart wearing a police costume holding handcuffs with three boys behind her wearing black-and-white striped prisoners uniforms with their skin painted black. A woman stops the group calling them out for their offensive “costume.”
“Do you guys understand the consequences of what you’ve just done? You guys are not gonna get into college. You guys are not gonna get any scholarships because this is a hate crime,” the woman said off-camera.
“We all dropped out of high school. It’s okay,” said one white kid shrugging his shoulders.
The group laughed it off and acted like they didn’t care. Then, a man off-camera proceeds to tell the group of kids to leave the store. I wonder if the teens will care once their parents find out they’re being investigated by Cedar City police.
More on the investigation from The Salt Lake Tribune:
Cedar City Police Sgt. Justin Ludlow said the department was not called about the Walmart confrontation and thus never responded. But after a witness at the store later contacted police about the exchange, authorities are now investigating, according to a police news release.
Ludlow said the department is working with area school resource officers to determine if any of the teens involved were students at local schools.
Initial reports identified at least one school attended by a teen in the video, but Ludlow said that proved to be unfounded. Cedar City police continue to monitor social media for leads.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox was one of many offended Tuesday by the video.
“We strongly condemn racism in all its forms and we call on every Utahn to reject such offensive stereotypes, slurs and attitudes,” the governor said in a prepared statement. “We must do better.”
Sgt. Ludlow said it’s unclear at the moment if the teens will be arrested or charged with a crime, per the report. Though, he did advise the public to be mindful when sharing videos of juveniles on social media because of the potential cyberbullying that may come with it.
So we’re supposed to care about their feelings when they intentionally put on blackface not caring about anyone else’s feelings? They walked into a public store. They knew people were going to see them. They knew their costumes were offensive. Whatever wrath the internet has for them is simply a consequence for their actions.
Two local school districts and Southern Utah University swiftly released a statement confirming the people in the video were not students of their institutions, per the Tribune. Schools don’t play that anymore, especially since summer 2020. Good luck to these kids when they go to apply.