Lawyer: Missouri teen’s video was ‘innocent horseplay,’ not George Floyd mockery
Update: This story has been updated to include a statement from another lawyer representing one of the young women.
The University of Missouri suspended a Lee’s Summit teenager over a video it says is “both shocking and disturbing” in its “similarity to the recent death of George Floyd,” but her attorney said Friday that the video was “innocent horseplay.”
The teenagers involved with the video “in no way were making a reference to Mr. Floyd’s death,” said a statement from attorney G. Taylor Wilson, who referred to news articles and social media posts about the video as “false attacks against high school students who in no way were commenting on Mr. Floyd or tragedies that have come to be symbolized by the words, ‘I can’t breathe.’”
In the video, which the lawyer said was taken on May 27, two days after Floyd’s death, three young women are heard laughing. Only one of them can be seen clearly, leaning on her friend’s chest and neck. One of them is heard saying, “I can’t breathe.” The lawyer said that other videos the teens made that same night show them roughhousing and engaging in similar behavior, and that the “I can’t breathe” video had nothing to do with Floyd’s death.
The attorney’s client “categorically condemns anyone who would mock or make light of Mr. Floyd’s killing, or who would attempt to excuse the conduct and circumstances that resulted in his tragic death,” the statement said.
Spencer J. Webster, a lawyer representing the young woman who said on the video “I can’t breathe,” said in a statement received after this article was first published that the video showed the teens roughhousing at a sleepover and that his client said “I can’t breathe” because she genuinely couldn’t breathe. He said that the young women’s actions were in no way a reference to Floyd’s death, and that his client “is sincerely sorry for the pain and anguish the video as perceived has caused.”
The video was posted on Snapchat, where content disappears after 24 hours, but another Lee’s Summit teen shared it on Twitter.
The Lee’s Summit school district confirmed that the teens involved with the video are recent Lee’s Summit graduates but did not identify them, citing student privacy.
“The video has been interpreted as mocking the death of George Floyd,” a district statement said last week. “At this time we are investigating this matter as swiftly as we can.”
Floyd, a black man, died while a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes to restrain him. A bystander’s video captured Floyd pleading with the officer, saying he could not breathe. Floyd’s death has sparked protests over police brutality in cities around the country, including Kansas City.
MU officials said the teen in the video was forbidden from entering the Columbia campus while its Office for Civil Rights investigated her behavior. University officials, who declined to identify her, said she had applied to MU and had been accepted as an incoming freshman. But after the university informed her of its investigation, she withdrew her application, said Christian Basi, university spokesman.
Interim Chancellor Mun Choi said in a statement Monday that the university received “numerous emails and social media posts from members of our community and the public who felt hurt and dehumanized by the video.”
Leaders of two other Missouri universities where the teens involved had planned to attend also condemned the video. Neither identified them.
“Perhaps the intent of the video can be debated. Its impact cannot,” Clif Smart, president of Missouri State University, said in a blog post. “It demonstrates a disturbing lack of empathy and respect.”
After viewing the video, he said, “I, too, was horrified. My first impulse was to rescind the offer of admission.” But he said he could not ignore the university responsibility to uphold the right to free speech.
In the end, he said, the student withdrew from the university.
Northwest Missouri State President John Jasinski wrote in a statement that “the individuals involved exercised horrible judgment and the content of the video was deeply offensive to our Bearcat community.”
He said the school expects “more of the individual involved who is planning to attend our campus next fall.” He said that because the school is a public institution and supports free speech, “it is not our role to punish the speaker by depriving her of her education. Our role is to educate.”
Nearly five years ago, the University of Missouri was embroiled in student protests over unanswered complaints of racism on the Columbia campus. The protests led to the ouster of the university chancellor and the UM System president.
In the past year, the Lee’s Summit district was the center of racial controversy as well, over efforts to hire a firm to do diversity training for teachers and staff. The district’s first black superintendent resigned in July, citing “philosophical differences” with the school board. Diversity training did begin there last year.
The statement from the Lee’s Summit teen’s attorney called for action on Floyd’s death and systemic racism.
“As we look to find a new path forward as a country, we ask that we work together to drive a national conversation and action around racial inequality and injustice that seeks productive change, rather than creating false narratives that distract from that much more important conversation.”
This story was originally published June 5, 2020 at 9:08 PM.
