Alaina Kunes, the University of Mississippi student seen making racist gestures outside the home of three Black students in a viral doorbell video, has apologized.
The Ole Miss student caught on a doorbell camera making racist gestures outside the home of three Black students has broken her silence.
Alaina Kunes called her behavior “insensitive, inappropriate and deeply harmful” in a statement to Action News 5. The University of Mississippi has confirmed she is “no longer a student” there and according to NBC News, she withdraw from the university herself.
Not everyone is satisfied with the apology, however. An Ole Miss student who spoke to Action News 5 specifically said the apology isn’t enough.
The incident has struck a nerve at a university with a painful racial history. In 1962, riots broke out on campus when James Meredith became the first Black student to enroll at Ole Miss. Federal troops had to be sent in to restore order. In 2014, a noose was placed around the neck of a statue honoring Meredith on campus.
The footage that went viral
The doorbell camera footage shows three white women walking past the door of an apartment shared by three Black students. Two of them appear to make monkey gestures and noises as they pass. Kunes is the first woman seen in the clip.
The video was shared online by Tasha Bolton, the mother of one of the students who lives in the apartment. It quickly spread, social media users identified Kunes, and people flooded the university with demands for action.
The second woman seen making the gestures has not been publicly identified.
In her statement, Kunes insisted she never meant to target anyone. “I would have never intentionally made those noises or gestures toward a person of color,” she said.
“I have apologized to the women and I pray they will forgive me. I can never truly understand the pain I have caused them and it was never my intention.” She went on to add: “These girls deserve to feel seen and understood and what I did is not a reflection of who I am trying to become.”
Kunes also said she had been harassed and received death threats since the video went viral.
“As I intend to cooperate fully with the University’s investigation, I ask for privacy for my family,” she said. “I understand the seriousness of this situation and remain committed to taking responsibility and learning from this embarrassing ordeal.”
What the university has said
Ole Miss condemned the behavior in a statement on Sunday, and said it had reached out to the students who were targeted to offer support, resources and information.
The incident is still under investigation.
The Bolton family, meanwhile, has hired an attorney and is expected to release a statement of their own, though they have not done so yet.
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