A white Minnesota woman who hurled racial slurs at a Black 8-year-old for stealing applesauce is being held partially responsible for her actions.
Shiloh Hendrix, 37, was on a playground in Rochester, Minnesota, in April 2025 when she called the child the N-word. The child is Somali.
Playground Chaos
Minnesota Public Radio reported that the child took the applesauce from Hendrix’s diaper bag.
The father of the 8-year-old, Shire Jimale, told investigators his son is autistic and “does not understand typical boundaries and requires intensive parental supervision.”
‘Karma Hit Her Fast’: White Woman Hurls N-Word At Black Men Then Calls 911, But She Didn’t Expect to End Up in Handcuffs, Viral Video Shows
The court document said the father admitted he tried to get the applesauce back from his son as Hendrix chased the child around the playground.
The father told investigators he was scared Hendrix would hit his son.
The incident drew the attention of a bystander, Sharmake Omar, who started recording Hendrix on his phone.
In the video, you hear Omar, who is Black, confront Hendrix about her language.
“It’s none of your f—king business,” Hendrix screamed as she walked away. Omar pointed out that what she said is hate speech and that she shouldn’t call a child the N-word.
“Why don’t you have the balls to say it right now?” Omar challenged her. Hendrix then started screaming the N-word repeatedly, while holding her child.
According to court documents, Hendrix admitted to investigators she called the child a racial slur, adding that she can call him that “if he acts like one.”
Legal Battle Begins
Rochester City Attorney Michael Spindler-Krage charged Hendrix shortly after the incident with two counts of disorderly conduct.
She was found guilty last week of one of the charges related to her behavior toward Omar. She was found not guilty of the other.
Hendrix was sentenced immediately following the verdict to pay a $1,000 fine. She was also placed on probation and ordered to complete community service.
MPR reported she was initially facing up to 90 days in jail. She will serve no jail time unless she breaks probation.
Hendrix claimed the verdict was “unfair and unjust.”
Reacting to the Trial Outcome
Her attorney, Brian Karalus, told MPR he plans to appeal the decision.
“I think it’s pathetic,” he said. “I think it’s sad. [I’m] shocked.”
During the trial, Karalus argued that Hendrix’s choice of using a racial slur was a bad one, but there’s a difference between something being morally wrong and something being illegal.
“The nature of this case, the fact that the government has decided to prosecute…speech, that makes this anything but a typical disorderly conduct case,” he told MPR. “The state of Minnesota has decided to prosecute Ms. Hendrix for language.”
Karalus added that beyond Jimale’s account of what happened, there is no physical evidence to prove Hendrix was threatening the child.
He also argued that the jury should not consider the child’s disability because he believed it was used to generate sympathy among the jurors.
The city attorney acknowledged the verdict to MPR and “what has made this incident so painful for many in our community.”
“Ms. Hendrix fully admitted to her hateful and racist conduct toward a child with a disability and others, and she has profited immensely while showing no remorse,” Spindler-Krage told MPR.
The attorney is referring to Hendrix’s online fundraiser. She’s raised more than $900,000 for her fundraiser called “Help Me Protect My Family Shiloh Hendrix Official.”
In the caption, it appears the mother does not express any remorse for the language she used towards the child.
“I called the kid out for what he was,” she said. Hendrix also argued that, since Omar has a criminal past, his accusations shouldn’t be relevant.
There is a sharp divide between some members of the white and Somali communities in Minnesota. National political figures, including President Donald Trump, have used derogatory language and associated the population with localized fraud and crime.
Local advocates blame the national political rhetoric for the rise in threats and vandalism against the community.
“Finally, we have seen racism held accountable,” the NAACP Rochester Branch said in a statement. “While the verdict in the Shiloh Hendrix case was not the complete outcome we had hoped for, it sends a clear message that bias-motivated conduct has consequences.”
Atlanta Black Star reached out to both attorneys about the case but has not heard back from them.
