University of Kentucky student arrested after video shows her call Black student racial slur
LEXINGTON, Ky.— A University of Kentucky student was arrested Sunday and video has surfaced of the student using racial slurs during a confrontation with a desk clerk on campus, the school's president said in a statement.
Sophia Rosing, 22, is charged with public intoxication, disorderly conduct, assault and assault on a police officer. The Fayette County jail website lists the student as Jane Doe, but university spokesman Jay Blanton confirmed Rosing is the student in the videos who was arrested.
In Kentucky, assaulting a police officer is a felony. The other charges are misdemeanors.
The University of Kentucky Police Department released the citation from the incident Monday morning. The officer said Rosing, who is from Fort Mitchell, Ky. was located in Boyd Hall and was "very intoxicated."
The arresting officer reported Rosing was in a corner repeating a racial slur to "a group of black females" and continued to use the word as the officer removed her from the area.
The officer wrote that Rosing said she "has lots of money" and gets "special treatment."
"When I told her to sit back in the chair she kicked me and bit my hand," the officer said. The report states Rosing didn't have identification on her person and, at least for a time, refused to identify herself.
The Boyd Hall desk clerk, Kylah Spring, said in a video posted in a report by Kentucky Kernel, a student publication, that the encounter happened just after 1 a.m. in the dorm's lobby. She said the student did not appear to be a resident, was stumbling in the lobby and was talking to an elevator.
Spring said the school's policy is for desk clerks to call a resident advisor when they encounter students who are "very drunk."
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Spring said the student, whom she does not name, assaulted her and used racial slurs.
In videos posted online, the woman can be seen struggling with the desk clerk and later with the police. Video also captures her repeatedly using racial slurs.
"From my view of a video of the incident, the student worker acted with professionalism, restraint and discretion," UK President Eli Capilouto said in a statement. "We condemn this behavior and will not tolerate it under any circumstance."
He said the video reflects violence and a denial of the humanity of members of the community. The university is investigating the incident, he said.
"Let us take this moment, painful and ugly though it is, to remind ourselves of the work we must remain committed to as a community where everyone is welcome and feels that they belong," Capilouto said.
The Fayette County jail states Rosing's bond was set at $10,000. At 10 a.m. Monday, the jail still listed her in its current population.
By Tuesday morning, jail records show, she was free on bail.