Viral video footage of several Utah teens wearing prison uniforms and blackface for Halloween has drawn widespread condemnation on social media, with the state’s governor even joining in to slam their actions.
“We strongly condemn racism in all its forms and we call on every Utahn to reject such offensive stereotypes, slurs and attitudes,” Cox told The Daily Beast in a statement. “We must do better.”
The video was originally uploaded to TikTok by @thebrownestsugar, but was later shared by user Karessa Pitcher on Twitter.
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“My classmate posted this 2 hrs ago, from the Walmart in Cedar City, Utah,” Pitcher wrote on Tuesday in the now-deleted tweet. “Idk how they’re [sic] parents let them get away with this or how they can be so stupid and racist but this is why critical race theory should be the standard in school."
The video shows a group of white teens standing around together in the Walmart. Three of the boys are dressed in Jim Crow-era prison chain gang uniforms and wearing blackface. They have black, long-sleeved shirts under the uniforms, and their hands are also painted black.
In the video, the trio are standing with five other people, including a girl dressed as a police officer with aviator sunglasses and a pair of handcuffs. The clip begins with the group immediately laughing at the person filming them.
“Do you guys understand the consequences of what you’ve just done?” the person asks the group.
Two kids standing on the right stare blankly at the camera.
“You guys are not going to get into a college. You guys are not going to get any scholarships because this is a hate crime.”
“We all dropped out of high school,” another boy in a brown-striped shirt says with a cheeky smirk.
The girl dressed as a cop and the boys dressed in prison uniforms then break out in laughter.
“I still don’t think it’s appropriate for you guys to be doing this,” the person filming says.
Someone off camera tells the group that they are causing a scene and that it’s time for them to leave.
“It’s really not funny,” the person filming says before the group disperses.
Cedar City Police Sgt. Justin Ludlow confirmed with the Deseret News that the incident was filmed at a local Walmart on Halloween, adding that someone who witnessed the ordeal called the department.
The clip caused a wave of reactions online.
“They are sick[;] racists taught to be racist by their racist family. They were warned about consequences, soon they’ll pretend they are sorry for their racist costumes,” a Twitter user wrote.
“Every year a non-trivial amount of white kids go, ‘this is the year i ruin my future with a horrific costume,’” another user tweeted.
“Didn’t anybody in the group stop and think? Where are the parents on this?” a social media user tweeted. “So many misses here, starting with those dressed up inappropriately and encompassing all the friends and family who said nothing.”
“Just when I think that I can’t get more disgusted! This is beyond horrifying because they see absolutely nothing wrong with this!” a person commented under the video on TikTok.
Cox’s public information officer told The Daily Beast that the incident is under investigation.
