(00:00:00):
My thesis is the culmination of moving to Denton and realizing there was a Denton within a Denton. There's a whole world within a world here. And it's the story of what I've coined Ku Klux Konfederatism.
(00:00:21):
Welcome to Shout Your Cause with Sally Hendrick, a digital magazine where you can get found, get heard, and get inspired with content that challenges us to be globally-minded. Our focus is on raising awareness around social justice issues, cultural differences, and to bring you the people dedicating their lives, tackling challenging topics as their way of giving back. Let us be your advocate to make your voices heard around the world.
(00:00:50):
Started my college pursuits, uh, as a very young single mom. My son was five at the time when I went, uh, to community college in Dallas and I was an activist then too. And it wasn't too long after I returned to community college or started community college that my son was diagnosed with, uh, learning disabilities and so schooling and education for him and just pursuing public education and access to his needs became a challenge very early on as remains. So ever since. And anyone who lives in Texas with children with disabilities understands exactly what I'm talking about. So, um, after a, a couple years, um, in junior college, um, it became very apparent to me that then I was not going to be able to manage as a single mom college, um, and fulfill the additional care that my son needed for his education. So, um, I dropped out of, of college after a couple years and then, uh, you know, just kind of did the hustle and bustle of being a single mom for about a decade in Dallas.
(00:01:57):
I started helped start a, um, nonprofit collective group called Phoenix project in Dallas, um, in 2008. And, um, we did a lot of underground punk shows and stuff, but we also did a lot of, we had the first veggie state fair there. We had a fem Fest. We did a lot of just, um, mutual aid, hosting food, not bombs after, uh, several years I met my husband, Dave, uh, and 2013 and in 2017, um, we, I was having a lot of problems with my son in Dallas schools. I ended up getting an attorney and, um, you know, just shy of litigation. Um, and finally we decided, you know, we, we gotta go somewhere else. And so I started looking and, and found that the Denton area at least seemed to be somewhat better schools. Um, so we, we had a lot of friends in Denton, so we bought some property north of Denton and built our home here and, and got my son in the schools here. And, um, after about a six months here, I thought, well, where are those two universities here? Why don't I go back to school? You know, I'm in a position now with my husband that I could, and, and I earned my, um, undergraduate degree in religion. Um, and I graduated as a McNair scholar with honors and that's the, the McNair, uh, work that I did that was actually an, an undergraduate thesis. So, uh, my thesis is the culmination of moving to Denton and realizing there was a Denton within a Denton.
(00:03:33):
Jessica Luther Rummel of Denton, Texas has been a polarizing figure on TikTok so much so that she keeps getting banned over and over again because of mass reporting by people who get their feelings hurt by hearing her truth bombs. In this episode, I interviewed Jessica and a young black girl named Briana also from Denton, Texas to find out what happened in an alleged racial attack against her that landed her in jail. And to get the backstory of why Jessica got involved
(00:04:13):
Before I moved here, I always knew of Denton as this kind of small. We always called it little Austin. You know, this small community of always went to underground house shows or pool jazz and, and rock and, and noise and, and sense shows and just this amazing diverse community. But then when we actually moved here and we started just kind of getting to know the area a little better, we realized like, um, it's a very old money town. And, um, one of the things I said to my husband, we had been here like several months and we would go to the town square. There's this historic county courthouse on the square. And there was a giant Confederate monument. And I didn't ever notice it before, but we'd gone several times. And I, I, I couldn't put my finger on it. And finally, one day I said to my husband, I was like, I figured it out. I, I figure out what it bothers me about going to the square so much coming downtown. He's like, what is it? And I was like, dude, look around.
(00:05:10):
It's all white people. There are no people, maybe every once in a while, but really not. This kind of opened my eyes. And then one day we go downtown and I see this black man, older gentleman stay landing on the square and he's holding a sign, say saying, remove the statue. And that's. And I was like, why is say, talking outside, run across the street. And it's Willie Hudspeth, the president of the Denton county NAACP. And he starts telling me the story of this monument in the story of Quakertown, this black, uh, community and business district that was forcibly removed by the Klan to end city leaders in Denton in 19 21, 19 22 women of the, of the city Federation who led the campaign. And then they worked with the UDC, the United daughters of the Confederacy to build this monument. And he's trying to prove the judge is telling him that the water fountains that were there were never segregated cause there was.
(00:06:00):
And you know, he is just giving me the down scope and I'm like thinking to myself, well, sh I study ancient religion. If we can figure out what happened 1000, 2000 years ago, if I started digging in thinking, I'm doing this kind of side project with this new friend that I made, but my entire trajectory has changed now because as I've realized, I'm spending so much time doing this research on local history while I'm going to college full time. And I'm like, man, I gotta figure out a way to get college credits for this. I ended up gaining my McNair scholarship by doing all this independent book guided research with, uh, other professors. And so then I discovered Denton's clan by researching this monument. And that's how I start getting interested in clan theology and this kind of culture of clan ishness, um, which is basically, um, what, what I am really interested in and what most of my research has been motivated by.
(00:06:53):
But my activism is also motivated by this. So my thesis is called legacies of power, the cultural heritage of theological white supremacy. And it's the story of what I've coined KU Klux Confederate is and what we find. And I'm not the only, uh, academic to make these claims. We have like Felix hardcore just came out with a book about KU Klux culture. And it's this idea that, you know, the first hooded or masked superhero figure that we have in the us was the Klansman, this Klan figure. And so I, um, have spent a lot of time researching this culture of clan ishness, the way that this kind of under covert white supremacy, um, in this culture that used to be hidden beneath sheets and robes with protesting on a square with burning crosses. Now it's, it's, um, you know, tucked behind the tie, you know, it's embedded into our cultural political institutions.
(00:07:52):
And so when I talk about Briana Breedlove and what happened to her, I see this culture of play. It it's like a textbook to me. It's like check boxes. You know, it's all there. The language is the same. The rhetoric is the same. The tactics are the same. And so this kind of research into America's culture of clan and it, and the way it can be localized living here in Denton. And knowing that you can see this on a large scale, but you can also hone it in and see how it really manifests at the most local level. And I think that's, what's helped make me a really capable activist is by just being able to draw on that academic and historic knowledge and be able to apply it to real world oppression. Now,
(00:08:37):
Jessica studies, the culture of white supremist. See, so it makes sense that her activism centers around what she calls KU Klux Konfederatism when Briana Breedlove got arrested because of a spat with so-called friends of hers from her high school, and they allegedly threatened to ruin her. What happened next fit right into this narrative of the tactics. Jessica speaks of in her research.
(00:09:07):
I was born into in Texas. I've always lived around the area in the Dallas area. I'm 19 years old. I graduated last year and I start school in the fall. Um, I took this year off just to make money and kind of try to find myself like all young kids.
(00:09:27):
Oh honey, I'm still finding myself You got,
(00:09:35):
But I'm really interested in journalism. I'm really interested in, um, racial and social equality. And, um, thinking about becoming a therapist or possibly doing something, um, with social social justice,
(00:09:52):
Would you rather work or would you rather play if we're going to go through all of this business building stuff, it better be for something that we love doing, right. Take a moment to do this quick life purpose challenge to discover what makes you truly happy. It's free visit Sallyhendrick.com/lifepurpose.
(00:10:18):
This has been like a passion of mine from forever. I've always been too busy, making a living, you know, and now for the first time in my life, I'm making a difference.
(00:10:32):
I'm writing a memoir and it's like a three generation type memoir. And it goes back into part of my family owned slaves and the other side were sharecroppers. So I've got this, you know, this, this mixed marriage, if you will. That happened in the fifties between my parents who were both dead now, but they both came from these very different worlds. One being this very wealthy side and, you know, in charge of all the industry in the area and, and, you know, in the west Tennessee area where cotton was grown and where, uh, strawberries were grown and, and et cetera, et cetera. And then mixing that with the poor family where my mother grew up with an outhouse, you know, so, uh, and then all of the abuses and, and oppression and different things that happen throughout from one generation to the next and the, the, uh, it, it's more about abuse of, you've got financial abuse, got gun control, which I consider to be wife control. And then you've got, you know, all these other control things on one side. And then, and then you've got, uh, self abuse with de you know, with depression, alcoholism, and et cetera, et cetera.
(00:11:56):
Um, I think that's really amazing that you're able to share your story and to have so many people listen. And so many people that are willing to listen to other people's stories and to really take that feedback and to utilize it in their everyday
(00:12:15):
That's Briana Breedlove the girl that Jessica mentioned before. I wanted to hear from Briana firsthand, what had allegedly happened to her in her own words, because Briana and Jessica are both being sued by the white family in Texas, whose daughters she thought were her friends. She prepared a statement as to what happened. And from what I've heard from Jessica's account of this, it matches up. I cannot speak to this situation. And I reached out to one of the daughters on Facebook to get a statement, but I never heard back from her
(00:12:53):
It again. Um, in March of 2020, um, we went on spring break. Um, I was a junior in high school, and this is around the time that COVID hit. And it was a really scary time. We didn't know what was happening. We didn't even have a name for COVID yet. And over the months, it just as progressively got worse for everyone. Um, but as deadly and scary as that was, the virus ended up being one of the least of my problems during this time, because a few months later, um, I was in a verbal altercation with another woman from my high school Cali Campbell. And, and, um, during this time it was around 4th of July. And a lot of the white women from my school were making fourth July posts with Trump flags and shirts and badges, and just the whole nine yards. And as I was scrolling through my Instagram feed and seeing these posts and seeing these women with the Trump flags and all of these things, I began to read the comments and see my peers just attacking them.
(00:14:02):
Um, just bombarding them with criticism, um, and, and a lot of voice hatred. And although I wanted to speak up against that, I didn't want to harm anybody because that would completely defeat the purpose of speaking up against their hatred. So I, um, messaged the girl, Cali and, um, you know, I tried to reason with her and tell her, you know, I, this is something I wouldn't expect from you. Um, it's quite disappointing to see that you are supporting somebody who is openly racist and openly hateful when I never thought of you or your family to be those kind of people. Um, and she didn't wanna hear any of that. And that's very common with Trump supporters, with racism, with any inequality, any issues, people typically don't wanna hear what you have to say. Everybody has their own ideas, and they think what they believe is right.
(00:15:02):
Um, and rightfully so, because that's how we're all programs think. And as a black woman and an advocate for equality, um, it really hurt my feelings to see my friend, somebody I've known since middle school make a post like this and speak and act in these ways, um, because to her and to many other Trump supporters, I'm sure it was just the post. It was mindlessly created and meaningless, but for people of color, such post are a reminder of the hatred and racism that we experience every day in America that we have to face from the day that we're born. Um, and like I said, she didn't wanna listen. And I kind of just accepted that. Okay. She doesn't wanna listen. This is clearly someone I don't wanna associate with anymore. However, the issue escalated when her sister Jacy started to bombard my DMS with these articles and these news clips trying to defend her stance.
(00:16:08):
And I understood it because, like I said, I know that every, anybody has their opinions and everybody believes that they're correct, because that's what they've been taught to believe. Um, but I'm not somebody easily swayed biological thoughts. And when they realized that bombarding me with these news clips and these articles, weren't going to sway the fact that I believed it was wrong, but I knew in my heart it was wrong. Um, this upset them. So our conversation took a turn, um, call started messaging me on a different site on Snapchats. I hadn't known it at the time, but Cali and Jacy were together our entire conversation. And they were both aware of what the other was saying. So even though Cali didn't wanna speak to me, she was having Jacy message me essentially on her behalf, but Jacy was doing speaking. Um, and it all happened very quickly.
(00:17:06):
What started as just a book political debate between us teenage girls, it went very sour, very S fast. The cam started calling me slurs and throwing out threats at me. And although identified appear as a black woman, I'm multiracial. And sometimes I, and something I have experienced, um, countless times was racism was threats. Was this hatred from non people of color towards me. So their behavior wasn't anything that phased me, um, until they started to threaten my life. The S informed me that they have power beyond my knowledge and could not only ruin, but in my life, in that moment, I stepped out of my usual character and into the defense mode. Like I believe many people would, I then threatened to fight and beat up the Campbell sisters. The difference between our threats, however, was that mine was set out of a place of anger of frustration.
(00:18:09):
And in retrospect, I maturity the Campbells, however, meant what they said and had been, trying to ruin my life ever since I was oblivious to this fact though, and continued my life, not really speaking to the girls, um, I blocked them. I didn't know where they lived, so there was no into their house and verbally arguing with them, anything like that. We just never spoke to each other again, never saw each other again, especially with COVID. We, we never ended up going back to school. Um, and like I've stated, yes, I I'm accustomed to racism. And so I just assumed that it was an empty through at one of the many empty threats I've received from Trump supporters. And then that July, I was arrested at my place of work a few minutes before closing. And the arresting officer had actually been to my job multiple times before the arrest and never made me aware of a warrant.
(00:19:10):
And in fact, I had accidentally locked my keys inside a car inside my car a few weeks prior. And the same officer contacted my mother to assure that I was okay since my car had been sitting in the parking lot overnight, that officer had multiple occasions to afford me of a warrant for my arrest and never did. I knew then that the Campos weren't bluffing had threatened me. I was initially charged with terroristic threats that were later reduced to harassment. And I spent the night in that Denton county jail and was released the next afternoon. That evening I was released. I received anonymous text, presumably from the Campbells threatening me again. Now, seeing what they were capable of. I reported this information to the police alongside the rest of their threats and discrimination. However, the justice system felt me yet again, when a second warrant for my arrest was posted for filing false police report, discouraged, distraught and disbelief are words that are not great enough to express how I felt.
(00:20:10):
I couldn't believe that I expressed my fear for my life that I showed the police, the threats that I was a victim of racism and hatred, and yet being arrested for a second time while the Campos lived unbothered. And that is the sum of what happened during that about four month period. It, um, it was a very dark place to be. It was a really hard place. Um, it's one thing to experience racism from strangers. It's even another thing to experience racism from relatives, distant relatives, and know, okay, you brush it off. It doesn't really matter. They don't really care anyways. But to know that this is someone you grow up with, this is someone you consider a friend and they, their hatred is enough to turn your life upside down. That something that's really hard to live with and was really hard to comprehend that there are really people that hateful.
(00:21:21):
You can hear the pain in Briana's voice about this situation. Like she said, she was trying to come from a place of love of understanding, and she wanted her friend to realize the he of her ways. The thing that is so shocking about this story is that COVID 19 had forced a break in this conversation, at least as far as school was concerned. But cause the story was still living on the social media accounts of the people involved. It was still fresh in everyone's minds, around Denton, Texas.
(00:22:01):
Why do you think that they went ahead and tried to make charges against you or whatever they were trying to do? What happened from this is an argument over text and Snapchat to that, like what changed?
(00:22:21):
I think that, um, they were getting a lot of attention already on social media of, they were already being bombarded with a lot of this is racist. You need to delete this don't you see what's wrong. And me coming to them with logic and out of a place of love, they, they didn't like that. It made them upset because it's E for somebody to, it's easy for someone to come at. You rude to come at you with. Hate trying to get you to change your idea. It's easy to ignore that. But when somebody is coming to you out of a place of love and respect, trying to tell you, Hey, I don't think you're like this. So I don't think you should make posts like this. I don't think you should say things like this. People get defensive. I think that me being like, Hey, I made you aware of this and you're still standing by this. I don't like that. Other people don't like that. And it made them angry. So I, I ignored it. I was like, I'm not gonna have this conversation with you. I think that made them angry. I think that the combination of it all just made them angry and they burst. It's one of those things where I think the mask finally fell. I think people can only put on a show for so long. And it finally slipped
(00:24:03):
Without seeing the comments, text messages, Snapchats, and so forth. It's hard to keep up with everything. However, the following text message exchange is something that Briana assumes came from the Campbells, according to the police report, which took 25 days for the Denton police department to provide the Campbell's deny. These text messages were from them. The report goes on to say that the messages were fabricated via the pinger app, a text messaging app in the warrant to get the pinger information. It's confusing because the pinger app was downloaded at 2:39 AM on July 27th, 2020 winning. But the text message that I'm about to read is shown to have arrived at 1:52 AM, which is 46 minutes prior to the pinger app being downloaded at the IP address of Briana's grandmother's home. Here's what the text message says, Hey monkey, I heard you're out of jail. I thought they kept animals in cages.
(00:25:11):
Like they belong. And Briana replied, who is this? The other person said the racist, who put you where you belong with the other N words like my mom said, you're go, you're good. For one thing, being slaves, she wrote back, this is Cali? That's Briana replying. You think you're so smart, but you can't even tell us apart. And then Briana replies, I'm documenting this conversation Jacy and it will be shown to the authorities. I saw your family deleted your racist comments, went private on social media and you failed to report to the police that you threatened to kill me beforehand
(00:25:57):
Earlier. Briana admitted that she said some horrible things to Casey in response to what she said were racial comments made towards her. It just so happens that Norred Law has a copy of the Snapchat video on their website. They have posted two blog posts regarding this case as of today, as they are the law firm that the Campbells hired to represent them in their defamation cases against Jessica and Briana. The reason Jessica has been brought into it is because she spoke of this situation online, making the story go viral, which caused a big fuss. Here's the audio version of Briana's threats.
(00:26:44):
I don't think y'all understand in your tiny puny, racist, inbred ass, Trump supporting brains, how much depressed anger and violence I have for my childhood. That will cause me to fucking murder all of these racists. So y'all need to let Cali and her little sister, her little sister that speaks for her, know right here. Right now. I'll curbs stomp that bitch and make her sister eat her teeth. Don't try it. Cause I'm not the one.
(00:27:20):
Do you have a dog learn unleashed potential dog training secrets with duke Ferguson. This free video series will get you pro training tips so you can get your dog's attention, eliminate behavioral problems and enhance your relationship in just 20 minutes a day. Sign up at sallyhendrick.com/dogtraining.
(00:27:46):
What are they trying to accuse you of with this text message program, trying to say you made it up?
(00:27:55):
Yes. They're trying to accuse me that the messages are fake, that, um, I sent them to myself. Um, I initially I was charged with terroristic threats, um, and then it was reduced to harassment. And then my second charge is for filing a false police report. Um, I assume the text cor coincide with the filing of police report. Um, because they're saying that the messages were, um, sent over the internet in my house. Um, but there's, they can't, but that they can't trace the messages to an actual source so that anyone who's connected to my wifi could have sent the messages. Apparently they hired a private investigator and the private investigator found that, um, the routing number, I suppose, I'm not sure of the exact terminology. It was that the messages were sent from the same internet. That's in my house that anybody who has connection, anybody could connect to the internet and send the messages. Um, so they believe that it was somebody in my house that sent the messages,
(00:29:24):
But don't they show up on your phone is their phone numbers.
(00:29:28):
Yes, it, well, they said that the phone number is a burner number and that they can't trace the burner number back to anybody in particular. Um, that it was a, like a texting app that somebody probably had a texting app on their phone and then just deleted the app.
(00:29:51):
How long was the cool off period before you got arrested?
(00:29:55):
Um, the incident originally happened on 4th of July and I was arrested. Um, it was about like three weeks, actually. It was about like three weeks because when I was arrested, the officer told me I had a warrant out for about a month at the time. So yes, I had a warrant out for about a month at the time, but I was never made aware my parents were never made aware and that same officer had come into my job multiple times. He had spoke to my mom when I locked my keys out of my car.
(00:30:28):
I went to the Norred Law website to read the blog a little bit further. And they've got a public statement concerning Briana Breedlove's defamation. And this is what it says, Warren Norred and Norred Law represents Tiffany Dieroff, Jacy Campbell, and Cali Campbell in a lawsuit against Briana Breedlove for her false defamatory statements. Norred Law represents the clients on the civil matter and is not involved in Breedlove's arrests or criminal prosecution. Norred Law did not cause Breedlove to be put in jail. Police arrested, Breedlove for harassment this summer, after she posted a video, threatening the Campbells with I'll curb stomp that bitch and make her sister eat her teeth, the Denton police department, again, arrested Breedlove in December, 2020 for making a false report to police. When the department determined that breed love fabricated text messages from the Campbells that contained racial slurs.
(00:31:35):
When police asked my clients to provide their phones for examination, they did so immediately, but Breedlove refused. A Denton police department made their own determination that the texts were faked using the pinger phone application. The source of these messages was Breedlove's physical address. Norred Law has not harassed Mrs. Breedlove or Ms. Breedlove or anyone else. Mr. Norred sent demand letters to those defaming our clients. These letters are required by Texas law before filing a lawsuit against Ms. Breedlove, Tiffany Dieroff, Jacy Campbell and Cali Campbell continue to receive severe online harassment due to these fake text messages from online active. This people continue to repost these fake texts in a misguided campaign to cancel these innocent victims, but this kind of internet vigilantism even if well, intentioned does not serve justice and is harmful to all parties involved. I urge caution to those who have been led to believe that many falsehood surrounding this case, many well-meaning people are being used.
(00:32:53):
It does sound like they do indeed have powers that I was and aware of. They do indeed have connections, um, in some sort, because I I've never heard of that. I've never, I've never known anybody to experience that when you are white with money, you have different connections. You have different outlets. You have D different resources than when you are someone black and poor. They're just, it's not the same. And I think any logical person can realize that that those are, I don't have the same connections as they do simply because of my race and because of the amount of money my family has,
(00:33:40):
We all have regrets for things we say or do. Briana knows that she didn't put her best foot forward that day that she made the Snapchat video. But if what she says is true, that the Campbell girls ignited the situation with racial slurs towards her. And that her response was out of anger and frustration. Then maybe all of this could be put to rest soon. Briana was already expelled from school for her senior year, and she was the yearbook editor, really looking forward to that final year. She also spent time in jail because of this. It just seems over the top for high school spat.
(00:34:23):
I've had family members who are racist and after the things I've experienced after having logical conversations with them, I've helped them change their mind. I've helped them change their ways. And I feel like none of that would really be possible if I hadn't experienced the things that I did. So I'm, I'm grateful now, in retrospect, I'm grateful. I'm hopeful. And I feel grounded because I know that my voice is important and my voice is heard. And hopefully through that, other people will realize that their voice is important and that their voice deserves to be heard too.
(00:35:06):
Do you feel like this would not have escalated if their parent, do you think their parents are the ones that are pushing this because of reputation?
(00:35:20):
I do believe that, um, their mother has played a big role in it because initially when I tried to speak to Cali, Cali didn't even wanna engage in the conversation. And that's when I just kind of left it alone. Okay. You know, people were already in her comments. People were probably already messaging her similar things and I understand that that can be overwhelming. And then once I left her alone, her sister started attacking me. And once her sister started attacking me, I kind of realized that this isn't just her. This is her family. And a lot of her thoughts, a lot of her actions are probably because of her family. Like a lot of like most people are. A lot of our thoughts are beliefs are because of our families,
(00:36:12):
Regardless how this case ends up. The real life example of what's allegedly happening at the local level in Denton, Texas mirrors, the historical references that Jessica talks about in her thesis.
(00:36:28):
My thesis is largely built on, on this book, race, a theological account, J Cameron Carter wrote it. And one of the most critical things in the book it's in the very it's in the interim. And it captured me the reason we haven't been able to deal with the true, um, you know, issues of race in, in the United States is because we have never really fully addressed it historically. I mean, we know that, right. But what he said is, you know, he talks about the importance of addressing it at the most local level. He says in the places where ideas about race and racism are traffick, and that means literally going into your, the Confederate monuments, the parks, the streets named after white supremacists, uh, these things matter. They shape the reality of our war world. They shape the world we live in and they, these are the places where ideas about race traffic.
(00:37:23):
We talk about our schools, where we see our kids being called racial slurs and white kids in the stands making monkey sounds towards teen with African American players. They just got a text message about that again, of, of a neighboring community. It happens all the time in areas and more Texas. And in like this, our schools are still named after Confederate leaders and, and Klans persons and the descendants of Klans persons. Yet we're surprised that things like that are allowed to happen. We perpetuate these legacies and the more that we normalize them, the, the further it goes. And so I think that one thing we need a cation in, in, in Nazi Germany, after, after the Nazis were taken God in Germany, there was an official policy D Nazi, where they went in and they not only did they take Nazi attempt to take Nazi rhetoric outta the language.
(00:38:15):
There's this whole, you know, studies about how the, the language continued, because it was so permeated in the culture, which of course is what happened. There were intentional, uh, teachings brought into the schools to teach children about how wrong the Nazis were and about what happened. And, and they took down, you know, the, the symbols that had been converted into hate symbols, you know, the way that, um, Nazis, uh, adopted and reappropriated, um, the swastika, which had been a, a symbol of good luck and fortune, um, in, in many Eastern cultures, not everywhere actually. I mean, indigenous peoples in the Americas, um, that yield the, which is the same thing. Um, but, but you know, they, they addressed it and they, uh, it was called D not of fearing. And it was a process. We never had anything like that in the us and in the us.
(00:39:03):
We've never had a moment of reckoning, the civil war. Wasn't a moment of reckoning because in the south, the way the story is told, they didn't lose the Confederates were heroes because even after the was settled, as they put it, they came home and saved the white women from the, the dangers of, of, uh, black people wanting equal rights. Right. Um, so they're still made out to be these heroes. So there was never a reckoning. And you have this perpetuation of, again, what I have come to call, especially in the south Ku Klux Confederate culture, this culture of Confederate is this culture of Southern pride. There's no separating it whatsoever. Um, there just isn't. And I think that even those who, who believe, I think there are people who truly believe that in the south. And I think that you will find people who will tell you it has nothing to do with race.
(00:39:54):
They're happy to share a meal with people, color and diversity and blah, blah, blah. I, I think that there are people who truly believe that, uh, it doesn't change the fact that, that it, it, it's not true. I, I think that what we have to understand is it's, we are at a point in our society where it's no longer just about individual reckoning. It's about systemic reckoning. Yeah. About the fact of realizing that most laws in the south, most vagrancy laws, peddling laws, all of these laws, um, nuisance, uh, public, uh, detox laws, uh, the majority of these laws were made to target, um, black, brown and indigenous persons. And they were, or to, um, control the movements of poor people, right. As well. But they all initially began as part of Jim Crow. Um, and so we can see how they play out. And I think Briana Breedlove's case is a prime example, how Jim Crow continues and how these laws are selectively enforced, um, in ways that target, uh, BIPOC.
(00:40:55):
And, and we see it over and over again. And do I think that they're are police officers sitting around in rooms going, oh, well, you know what we can do to get this, you know, racial slur now, I don't think it's happening like that. It may be, I'm sure it is somewhere, but I think the majority of the time, it's just programmed into them, um, to perceive certain people as threats and to approach other persons, just being kids, uh, or just, you know, they had a bad day don't we hear it every time. There's a mass shooter with a white man. You know, he just broke up with his girlfriend. His dog just died and he just lost his job and he was having a bad day. Right. Um, but, but black and brown people don't get to have bad days. Um, especially in the south, especially in Texas, especially in communities like mine.
(00:41:44):
Um, they don't get to have good days a lot of the times. Um, and so I think that when you combine, um, when you have the combination of, of racial oppression in the south, also with poverty, um, you get a unique form of oppression that can be incredibly, um, harmful, not only physically, but mentally and emotionally. And you have people who are just exhausted from just trying to survive, just trying to get by in some of these communities where racial terror still lives as a sport, um, and is tolerated and normalized. And, and I think that again, Briana, Brie lives as a case, that is a perfect example. So many people could have spoken up and should have spoken up teachers at are school who knew what was going on, who knew something was wrong. But, um, and, and again, I'm gonna relay this story to you.
(00:42:46):
Um, as I understand it, right, obviously I'm being sued for defamation, um, by, um, the Campbell family. Um, and I am being, uh, sued for, for defamation, um, for, uh, making false claims regarding this narrative. But I wanna make it very clear. Um, the story I'm telling you right now, and that I have been telling is Briana's story story, that I have been able to put together with the facts as I understand them. Uh, I am a researcher. There's just what I do. And so this is the, what I understand to be the facts as they have been presented to me. And as I have been able to look them over and make the best sense of them,
(00:43:26):
Do you want to stand out from the crowd with your content, come discover how to market yourself as an expert, as a change maker, as a positive influence on other people's lives with the exponential marketing club, you will learn the ends and outs of content marketing. That makes a difference in the world. Visit Sallyhendrick.com/club.
(00:43:52):
According to Briana, July 4th, 2020, the, she sees her classmate and former friend call Campbell. And it's important to emphasize call Campbell is not somebody that Briana just knew of through school. This is somebody who they'd been to each other's, uh, homes. They had hung out off campus, many a times together. They had moved through grades together. So they,
(00:44:17):
They knew each other, they were in school.
(00:44:20):
So this actually occurs over summer break, 2020. Um, Briana goes on Instagram, I think, and sees Cali Campbell in a picture with her new boyfriend. And he's wearing a Trump shirt. Now, up until this point, Briana had understood her friend call to be very pro black lives matter to be, um, you know, what Briana would consider an ally. Um, they had had some, some kind of differences in, in discussions on racial issues in the past. But as far as we Briana understood, this was her friend and somebody who, um, she thought she could trust in the sense of the times, right. You know, Briana leaves a comment. And so now the back and forth messages are going Briana's feelings are her. Cali's upset about the message, Briana caption, the comment she leaves. Well. So then, um, pre, um, after this increased heated exchange between Briana and Cali, Cali's older sister Jacy, who's an adult and not in the high school anymore.
(00:45:21):
And she starts sending racially charged messages and videos to Briana on Snapchat. Now everybody knows Snapchat is the best place to do that because of course it's delete it. And so at this point, Briana's kind of just like caught off guard, like really, you know, and she's not, of course, she's not thinking, oh, I better start recording or screenshotting all this stuff. You know, she's just going through this experience. And, and all these nasty things are being said. And so at one point, um, after she gets something really nasty, Briana responds, this is like two days later on July 6th. So this is going on for over the course of a few days, right back and forth between these, these girls, mainly at this point now, Jacy and Briana, this adult Jacy, who is 18 at the time in Briana, who's still a minor. And so at some point, something gets said that really upsets Briana, according to Briana, uh, Jacy referred to her as, um, a monkey, you know, and just really, um, it set her off, you know, and, and said something to her along the lines of, you know, they know where she lives and they have her boyfriend or whatever.
(00:46:33):
And so Briana, Briana feels threatened. And so she responds with, I think her quote, uh, I think she said something along the lines of, I have the video, but she says something along the lines of, you know, I deal with, you're lucky I have to deal with racist, like you all the time. And I know how to control myself, but, uh, you know, let your sister know. And again, she's responding to this threat made at her. You know, if y'all keep coming at me, um, I'll stomp your sister's teeth out and feed 'em to you or something. We made this, this was her response, but of course there's a video recording of it, which means somebody was prepared to make a recording of it before it was deleted. So it's kinda like, like we always see, you know, people, you come at somebody and you come at somebody and setting them up to be this, uh, monster that you want them to be.
(00:47:22):
You know, now keep in mind, Briana knows that it was inappropriate, that she made that statement. Um, and she publicly admitted it on social media, but here's, here's where the everything goes to shit. The family then goes, and I have copies of all the text messages between the mom and the daughters of all this. Cause we got 'em in a public records, request the family then, you know, decides to go and, um, press terroristic threat charges on Briana, which according to Texas law, that's not a terroristic threat. Um, right. Doesn't qualify. It doesn't meet the qualifications. We know because even though she was initially charged with that, they changed the charge later to harassment. Okay. What she's actually arrested for is harassment at her job. They come to her job and they arrest her. Now keep in mind at the time she's arrested, there are text messages going back and forth between Jacy and Cali and their friends.
(00:48:21):
We know because we have copies of them where one of their friends says to, to call, you know, Briana wouldn't actually do that. She's just upset. And Cali says, yeah, I know. But at the same time, they're going to the police and, oh, we're so scared. We have to hire security. Briana, you know, a member of student council, a honor, roll French, honor roll. I mean, yearbook editor. We're talking about a stellar student who has no record, but suddenly she's this severe threat. Right. And even though there's evidence that these kids are going back and forth, now Briana's arrested for harassment, put in jail in the middle of COVID while there's a COVID outbreak in our county jail, a person arrested for murder. Yeah. Held overnight. So then she gets out jail at like, you know, late at night, she goes to, I think you told me her.
(00:49:12):
And, and somebody went to, they went out to eat at some late night breakfast spot and she gets, she gets these text messages. Um, she, she posts on the internet, uh, that she's outta jail. You know, she shares what happens. She tells, tell, makes a post saying she's outta jail. And she starts getting text messages from an anonymous number. The ones that I shared, um, on social media and in these text messages, Briana asserts, JacyI, I know this is you. And they don't deny it. You know? Um, or she first, she refers to her as call. She's like, you're supposed to, but you don't even know which one we are. She's like, oh, Jacy. And this person never denies it. Um, and then of course they make the, the comments that you see also then Briana shares these, um, messages online. She shows people that what happened to her, she posts them online.
(00:50:02):
Um, keep in mind at no point. So we know this from the text messages, cuz in the open records request that we got, the police did go through these girls' phones. And so we have copy these of their text messages. So, um, the moms ask, if people are asking these girls who sent the messages call suggests at one point that she knows who sent them, but she didn't do it. Um, and, and then, uh, additionally at no time at no time these girls at no time, do they personally reach out to Briana to say, we didn't send you those messages, which probably would've gone a long way. Right? We, um, we're, that's terrible. What someone sent you, you should have never been sent those. Let me reassure you that whoever did that, it was not us. Whatever was going on between us that is wrong.
(00:50:53):
That is racist. We have nothing to do with that instead. What do they do? They hire an attorney and start sending her letters, threatening to sue her. Should she not take him down? They never once speak out publicly. They never once directly contact to say it. We didn't send those messages. And so then, then they also, the uh, other activists start posting it online and they send those activists demand letters to post down under threat of suit and, and they send one to Briana's mom. So now they're sending out anybody who dares to post anything about it. They're sending out defamation letters. And in the meantime, again, I, I wanna point out to you at no time, do they ever condemn the content of the messages? They immediately begin to call Briana a con artist. She's a liar. And, and now that this is coming, we see people commenting on the post saying, uh, one girl, one person talks about how, uh, they went to high school or went to college with Jacy who falsely accused their stepdad of sexual assault who happened to be black.
(00:52:03):
And, um, people start coming out about how JacyS made homophobic slurs to them at work. And so you start seeing a, a list of other people saying, Hey, me too, me too, this isn't an isolated incident. So from the time I'm involved, it's December of 2020, this has all been going on for six months. By the time I learn anything about it and it gets brought to my attend by another one of the actors involved. And she, she tells me about it and I'm, I start my, what I always do. Okay. Send me everything you got every screenshot, every text message, every comment, every social media post, anything you got. And I told Briana, I was like, I'm not gonna judge you. Like if, if you know kids go back and forth, adults say inappropriate shit to each other back and forth on the internet all the time, all the time do did Briana went public and said, I shouldn't have said what I said to Cali, but at no time, have the other girls admitted that they were involved in anything.
(00:53:06):
It's always been Briana as if she was this person just harassing them on the internet. So, um, that's when I get involved. And so I make the first video that went viral. I think now it has like 6 million views or something stupid. And I make the video basically telling, uh, the Campbells that what they did was racist. That I, I stated in the video that, um, they sent those messages to this day. I believe that they do that. They did, um, if for no other reason, especially, uh, their behavior after making that video proves to me, additionally serves as additional evidence to me that they sent those text messages. Um, and so I, I believe that to be true. And I think that there's good evidence to show that they did. And additionally, um, I think that, well, I'll say this, the, the onslaught that began at, after that video went out, uh, it it's just textbook. So then I start getting a letter, I get my demand letter, you know, saying, and I told nod, you know, if you, if you think that this is the way to go about it, you're gonna have to send a lot more letters. And he did. And I, uh, ripped it up. I make another video and I rip up the demand letter and tell him I'm not taking it down well, and shortly after I go public is when I get a message from, uh, a person claiming to be a member of the Campbell family.
(00:54:36):
And they offer they, the exact words are how much money would it take to get you to take that video down? And this is after several million views at first, it was, you're putting my family at risk. They're not safe. We had to hire extra security. And my response to that was no, you're not, no, no, you're not in danger. Uh, these people live on a property, you know, in the nicest part of town and a, you know, they, these people are not in any kind of danger. They obviously have close connections to the police. Um, the way they were able to finagle Briana's arrest so quickly. So I didn't believe that threat to begin with a matter of fact, I think my response was ha ha, ha, ha, ha, ha ha. On and on and on. Cuz I wanted them to know what a mockery I thought that was.
(00:55:21):
And then it was how much money would it take to get the video taking down? I said, oh, okay. You wanna know what it'll really cost? Like, well, $10,000 to Briana for her struggles and uh, a public apology to her, that's what it would cost. And of course I was told that, uh, Briana got herself into the mess and that that wasn't gonna happen. And so I said, okay, well the video lives on. And then they said, well, we're just gonna use our money to hire an attorney for the family. I said, go for it. And um, so I just, uh, then it was quiet for a while. Uh, Noad started putting out his videos and his accusations defaming Briana on social media, um, and myself as well, all which we can address if you'd like, um, if you wanna go into that, I got served as well.
(00:56:09):
And I should say, oh, so I missed that part of it. So this happens over the summer. Briana goes to register for school, the following spring, and she's been kicked outta school. So Ryan high school, um, after she's arrested and, and, and oh, and there's a whole nother arrest too. She's arrested a second time. Yeah. She was arrested a second time in December of 2020. Right. Uh, after I got involved, she right after I make the first video, she was arrested again for filing a false police report for making false statements to police. That's what she was accused of because they claim that she forged the text messages. Well, you know, it's, it's interesting. So first let's go back on January. I make my video, um, on, on, in the first week of January and then I make an extended video on January 11th about Warren nor and his interests and pull affiliations.
(00:57:05):
And then on January 14th, that's when Norred Law, Warren Norred starts publicly defaming Briana on his firm's website and a blog post blog post. And, um, January 14th, 2021. So on January 14th nod goes and he starts making a post. Um, and keep in mind, by this time he'd already been arguing with people on social media and Facebook. And up until when he'd been saying that these text messages couldn't possibly be real because quote, they don't even read like something that people say and that he knew that Briana had faked the text messages, according to his comments on social media and arguing with people. He knew that Briana had faked the messages because he got information from a detective unrelated to the official investigation. And so, um, he says that, um, the, the, the, this, he knows all this because keep in mind at this time, we have no public records on this.
(00:58:02):
We don't even have a copy of the police report. Briana's attorney didn't even have a copy of the police report at this time, because it was still considered a quote open investigation. So public records request for these documents had not been, uh, fulfilled. And again, Han's attorney still didn't even have copies of the most recent charge. And he's saying all this stuff, he's saying all this stuff, but he's claiming it's all related to an detective, not associated with the official investigation. And so I start calling him out on this and I'm like, Hey, uh, mob, dude, how do you know this stuff? How can you even make these claims when Briana's attorney doesn't even have a copy of the police report? How would you even know this? You can't call up to the police department and be like, Hey, give me a copy of the police report.
(00:58:45):
Just because you're attorney it doesn't work that way, especially if it's an open case. And I file open records, request with PD probably once a month at the minimum. So I know their processes. So he then all of a sudden on January 15th, NORAD posts a video on YouTube and he links it to his website in a blog. And again, claims to have access to a police report, uh, regarding the investigation that again has not yet been completed and it doesn't fully corroborate his claims. So at the time, keep in mind. Also Briana had not even been officially charged with the crime to this date. Briana has never been charged by the Denton county district attorney for filing a false police report. Her charges have never been filed. She was arrested. Those were the arresting charges. But to this date, there is no active charge against her for this crime.
(00:59:41):
So they've just been sitting on it. It was just another tool to terrorize this girl. So Nora says that he's got a copy of the police report and he starts showing snippets of it, which you saw. And he claims that he compares Briana Bri love to the Jussie Smollett case, right. With the false accusations of racism. So then he goes on, um, and he claims that she sent first, um, on January 4th, Warren Norred Law firm accused Briana of sending messages to herself in a Facebook post. Um, and he says, again, it's wait unrelated detective. But then on January 15th, he goes and says, he starts going through this, um, document to claim that, um, Briana sent the messages to herself, um, through a pinger app and that the he's making all these claims about IP addresses. Well, so finally, um, I got a copy of this report in February, 2021. And so I look at this report, um, and I see, first of all, that's when I start reading through all these text messages we have, because the girls handed over their cell phones and the detectives are like, Nope, no evidence here. They definitely didn't do it. And I'm thinking to myself, okay, first of all, I have four cell phones.
(01:01:06):
How do we know it? Wasn't a group of girls sitting around and one of them happened to have a pinger app and or how do we know it? Wasn't somebody's boyfriend or, you know what I mean? I never said they sent the messages from their phone, from their personal cell phone device. Right. I said that they sent the messages, meaning they had something to do with it. And there are text messages among Cali Campbell and one of her friends, which suggests that Cali did know who sent those messages, who might have sent those messages. But of course the police never address those text messages that are available in their own report. They never actually dialogue or address that element of the component would of course clearly suggest that this was something going back and forth between a group of children, not just Briana, this enraged danger harassing this poor defenseless white girl as the narrative was drawn out. So then they go through, and this, when I tell you that this report reads like somebody drunk, put it together.
(01:02:04):
I mean, and I'm used to this, I've read police reports. They're always, um, terrifying by the lack of comprehension and, uh, just critical thinking skills in general. So what I don't know is this, this just there's, there's kind of this overall, uh, expected amount of incompetence that comes with, uh, policing in general. Um, lack of just critical thinking skills. We expect this there's some discrepancies, uh, right from the get go that I noticed that let me realize either a, this was, uh, this is all a bunch of CRO of shit, and it was all put together to frame Briana or B. Um, these guys are complete morons and they don't know how to put a and B together. And who knows what the actual truth is. So of course the most critical component of these police reports is the supposed IP address and match in certain spots.
(01:03:00):
Of course, we wouldn't know if that's true because they redacted the IP address from everywhere. It's mentioned in the report, which according to Texas law, they have no reason to do. Um, IP addresses are, are not something that are considered. Yeah. I mean, you can Google someone's IP address if you, you know, their address, you know? Um, so who knows if they're actually being honest there, but so basically, um, in this report, which is hundreds of pages long, um, there are a few things that, that are important. So first on page seven, the detective states, um, the pinger text free search warrant. So the pinger being, uh, a texting app that they determined was used to send these text messages. They, they trace the phone number and they determined that that phone number is connected to pinger, which is a, a text, uh, tool what an, uh, that many of us use, uh, so that you can send text messages to people.
(01:03:56):
And they don't know who said it to them. That is the whole point of a pinger app or any app on like that, as we know, um, it says the pinger text free search warrant returned, uh, that the text messages received by Briana breed love were initiated on, um, July 27th at 1 52 hours. Well, that's military time. So that's 1 52 hours, meaning 1:52 AM. Then on page 69 of the report after, uh, just a slurry of confusing and out of order information compiled into, again, what I can only describe as a completely illogical report. Um, the investigator says on Thursday, August 20th, I received the results from the search warrant from pinger. Now keep in mind, this is how quick they jumped on this. Do you know, I have worked with people who murder cases, where they can't, you know, threats of real threats of, of real violence.
(01:04:53):
And they can't return a search warrant, you know, and get on investigations like for three months, this is three days later, they have executed a search warrant with pinger for this incident. I mean, there's an, there's an eerie level of commitment to this case from very early on, like anything I've ever seen. So he says I received the results from the warrant from pinger. And I learned that the phone number used to send the messages was activated on July 1st and again, on July 27th, the report provides an IP address for the date and time. The pinger account was created. The pinger account account was created on 7 27 at 7 39 UTC hours. That's 2 39 central standard time. Now there's a real problem here. You know what it is? So page 69 or excuse me, page seven,
(01:05:51):
Page seven said 1:52 AM
(01:05:54):
Is when the account, when the messages were received.
(01:05:57):
Right. And this says the apping account was created at 2:39 AM
(01:06:02):
After the messages were received.
(01:06:04):
Yeah.
(01:06:05):
And there's, uh, 63 pages of information and bullshit between those discrepancies because it's all a crock of shit.
(01:06:19):
So this is the first red flag where I'm like, well, that doesn't make any sense. So, um, then I start looking through the discrepancies and I'm looking all the, and then you have the issues again, of all these text messages that they collected, which suggests that the girls did in fact know who sent the message. Jacy is talking with her mother about B Briana's weight. They are, I mean, they are making incredibly disparaging comments about Briana to each other. Why on earth? Wouldn't I believe Briana, when she tells me they were making disparaging comments to her. So when I read this police report, all I see is further evidence of what Briana's telling me, which is that, um, the police and this family works together to terrorize her for a speaking up in defense of herself and then B for telling the world about what they did when she spoke out in defense of herself.
(01:07:14):
Um, so this police report, that's supposed to be this male in the coffin. Briana, did it keep in mind all the IP addresses are blacked out. We have no idea. They claim to know how the pinger, uh, they, they claim to have figured out, uh, the address associations, there's all this magical information that they never explained where it came from or how they knew it. Um, but again, we have no real evidence to show IP address connections. There's no nothing has been provided to members of the public to prove that Briana to the state has never been officially charged with that crime. Even though she's been to court three times already for the initial charge, and they've had full opportunity to tack that one on, they never have. Um, and additionally, the, we have these time discrepancies, which, you know, seems pretty damn important if we're gonna talk at about knowing when it was created and when the messages were sent, they obviously felt it important enough to put it in the report, but they don't seem to be able to explain how the text messages were sent before the account was created, if it came from that parent account.
(01:08:15):
So that was when, when I saw that report and I read through it thoroughly, to me, it just served as more evidence of Briana's obviously something is going on here. Briana's told telling me the truth. And so I, and, and when I tell you the number of times, I gave Briana the opportunity to give me an alternative narrative. You know, at one point I told Briana, I said to her, you know, listen, Briana, I want you to know that I believe you, but I also want you to know that I understand that even before those text messages had been sent, you had been, you know, called names that were racial slurs and had been betrayed by someone who thought was your friend. And you had felt like you were being ganged up on. And she was, and I said, I would also understand why someone your age might feel in a desperate situation after you had already been put in jail over this.
(01:09:13):
I could see how someone in your situation might be desperate enough to do something like maybe send those messages to yourself so that you could have some kind of substantial evidence to say, see, see, this is what's happening to me because you want people to hear you and believe you. And I, I told her, I was like, and I'm not, I wanna be clear. I'm not suggesting that's what you did. I said, I just want you to know that I would still have your back. I would still call those people raise. I would still tell your story with the same gumption, because it doesn't change the fact that what happened to you was wrong. Even before those messages, I gave her every opportunity. And she has, uh, also now that I've been sued, Briana has, um, she never gave her phone over to police cuz she didn't trust him.
(01:09:55):
And her attorney told her not to, well, no shit. Right. Um, but she has agreed to let an independent, uh, forensic analysis look at that phone, um, for my case. So she is willing to give that phone over, um, for an independent forensic analysis, which is amazing. And I'm very grateful to her for that. Um, and uh, she's also been incredibly vocal. I just spoke with her and had a conversation which I recorded. Um, we're gonna go public with it. You know, she, she, they really put her through it. You know, she lost, she got kicked outta school, but it took her senior year away from her all because of this threat because Cali didn't or, uh, Cali didn't feel safe going back to school with Briana there, Briana took a break. You know, she, you know, we, we raised enough money to, to cover her, her defense, her criminal defense, you know, at one point, you know, I asked her, uh, do you wanna keep going with this because we'll raise the money for you to fight this in civil court.
(01:10:51):
And ultimately Briana decided, you know what, I'm 18. I don't know shit anyway. Um, and she was tired at that point. She'd been fighting for a year trying to graduate this. This is a child who came with her own struggles with, with, with, you know, just life in general. And she just wanted to, she wanted a break and you know what I, for her mental, um, health, I think for her, she made the right decision. She, they got a, they got a default claim against her for defamation and they have three. This family has the Dieroff-Campbell family has three, um, default judgements against, uh, uh, an activist Briana and her mother for defamation because of this, all this. Um, and so Briana chose not to fight. And again, I, you know, that was her choice and I understood it and I, I respect it, but, um, I am not going to accept a default judgment and I will.
(01:11:48):
I relish the opportunity for someone to put me on a stand to explain why I think the dear off Campbell family are racist and why I think they deserve to be exposed for their role in all of this and why I felt 100% confident to make the statements I've made and why I am continuing to make them. Um, I, I relish the opportunity. I look forward to it and you know, these, this is all about exhausting people about scaring people about you better be quiet, or I'm gonna make your life, hell bitch, I'm in hell. Bring it people powering, um, at their power. And it's like, these are the kinds of people who, when we talk, when I talk about KU Klux culture and Ku Klux Confederatism, and the way that this has just been kind of normalized, you can see it play out in the system.
(01:12:43):
The way that Briana was immediately, this monster that was this threat to this poor little white girl and this, you know, I, I just, it ENR me, um, that these folks think that, that they're just gonna continue like this without any accountability. Um, so, you know, I, I have to tell you it's, it's not, um, it's, it's not as, um, invigorating as one might think, you know, you might be like, I'm, I'm like fighting the good fight. You know, it's exhausting. Um, these people have, have exhausted me. I have had to take a year off of, you know, I'm a grad student and, um, I have a, a teaching fellow position at the university of north Texas. I have, because of this, all it has caused extreme stress on my family, I, for my child, um, you know, the, just the level of vitriol that has been sent our way to, um, in response to all of it.
(01:13:48):
And it's played a real, um, role on just shaping my future now, you know, um, I'm technically unemployed now because I know that I cannot be a full-time grad student and take care of a special needs child and fight this lawsuit. Um, and so the only thing I could sacrifice was, um, for me was school. Um, I can't sacrifice my son's care and I'm not going to sacrifice Briana's truth either. Um, and I think that, you know, for Briana, for people who don't live in the south, people who don't live in north Texas, you people don't don't understand the kind of community that this is, um, and the kind of power and the way that these things go on to haunt you for Briana to speak out the way that she did and to continue to speak out after what they did to her, you know, they put her in jail twice, um, and she continued to speak her truth.
(01:14:46):
And that's what attracted me to Briana's story. That's what, what a stand with Briana is, it's not, I'm not going out there and speaking for her, I know people are hearing my voice, but that's just because, um, you know, Briana has chosen to, to take a step back with it and heal her life because she is young and she does want to try to move on in some capacity. Um, and she can't do that by fighting these people. But at the same time, that doesn't mean that her, her story's not important. And that, um, what happened to her should just be moved on from, because these people will do it again. These people will continue to do this, and I'm sure Briana's not the, obviously Briana is not the first, that's what we saw whenever Briana started telling her story, people talking about what happened with them involving this family before this
(01:14:46):
(01:15:34):
Right. And one girl talks about how the mom used to. She said, the mom used to bully my mom so bad in high school. My mom switched to homeschool. You know, it's like, all these people start coming out, talking about these horrible experiences they have. And you're just like, yeah, of course, these are the kind of people we're dealing with. They've made a life out of exceptionalism and their privilege. And they're just people with way too much time, money, and privilege on their hands. And so they want attention. They, they wanted, you know, they fine, fine. I'm gonna make sure everybody knows who they are. And their shitty attorney Warren Norred, he's such a scum bucket. Half the half of the, the lawsuit filed against me is his complaints talking about how I defamed him. It's like, who's, it's like, here's what I think you wanna know what I think.
(01:16:19):
Here's my, here's my here's my speculation. Warren Norred is now, um, he was already a leading member of the Texas, G O P. He's now running for a Senate position in Texas, a lawsuit right after he announced his campaign after all this time a year. And then they decide to serve me when Warren Norred launches his campaign. Yeah. I think Warren Norred wants to be the white Knight Crusader, what his white hat on for the G O P he's gonna cancel, cancel culture. He found some schmucks with enough money to pay him to do it. He's convinced him, they've got a case and they're gonna pay him to go in there and fight for him. And he doesn't care whether or not he wins or loses because by the time that happens, he'll already be elected. It's a campaign for him. That's what I think. I think it's all politically motivated. It's fully politically motivated and he found some schmucks to pay for it.
(01:17:17):
Is there something else though? What else is going on that's is, or is this all consuming?
(01:17:25):
Well, it has been, um, I'll tell you, it, it been, um, all consuming, finding an attorney was difficult. When I tell you, you know, people are like reach out to the ACLU, and I just start laughing. I just cause it's like, they don't realize it's taxes. Y'all like every, ACLU attorney here is so overwhelmed with cases regarding violations of rights. Not to mention we have, but whole border issue. Y'all. I mean, they, people don't understand. It's Texas. It's hard to find a good civil rights attorney that you can pay to take your case. Cause Theyre overworked, they're spread thin. And the one that are worth the shit are really spread thin. I happen to find a, through a friend of a friend, an attorney who is, um, he calls himself a Maverick, which is good, cuz they gotta be able to deal with me.
(01:18:14):
He would want me to shut the hell up to which point I'm obviously going to say no. Um, and so he is, uh, he is been in it for, uh, 40 years, 40 plus years. He was on the verge of retirement and decided this would be a fun case for him to, uh, fly out on. So he's, uh, available and capable to invest himself in it, uh, which is good. And he's also not afraid to, um, I didn't want just an attorney to go in and be willing to fight for me on the principles of constitutional law. Um, which of course first amendment is my argument, right. Um, we have a right in this country to speak our truth and um, I, under this, I have done nothing but speak the truth as I understand it. Right. And I think I have sufficient evidence to show that I had good reason.
(01:19:02):
I have good reason to understand the truth as I understand it. Um, not only as just an activist and seeing what I saw, but as an a, I think that somebody who has spent years studying how white supremacy cultivates in a culture and among people and to be very good at that. And I think all of those things combined is not just my opinion, it's my educated opinion. Um, but this attorney, um, is also willing to, uh, his name's Greg cost, I should say he's, uh, principally. He agrees with me. Um, I think that he believes in the cause and he believes in, uh, the importance of calling out, uh, this kind of behavior and not allowing this kind of behavior to thrive in our community. So that's also important again, like any attorney, I'm sure he wishes I would shut up, but um, that's just not gonna happen.
(01:19:54):
Um, but so outside of this, uh, right now, one of the big problems, um, we're focusing on right now in Texas is of course we have abortion under attacks, um, which, you know, that's what I find interesting about this. This is the new G O P tactic. Um, especially in the south, if you can't pass laws to legalize and mandate moral behaviors, according to your Christian right wing ideology, then by God, we will Sue you until we can force you to behave the way we want you to behave. Uh, that's the same thing with my suit. Uh, they couldn't get me for anything legal, uh, as far as a criminal charge. So now they're just gonna weaponize the courts against me.
(01:20:33):
Jessica went on to talk about other activist work that she's doing with the Texas Equal Access Fund, also known as the T-fund plus other abortion support funds to help women with transportation expenses and so full worth in Texas. That's all for today. Folks, if you'd like to continue to follow this story or to access the links to Jessica's activism, work and legal funds for the lawsuits, she and Briana are facing. Visit shoutyourcause.com and find this podcast episode's page. Her link is there, Turn what you know, into what you do. Join the platform with the most ways to monetize what you know, whether it's online courses, coaching memberships, podcasts, newsletters, communities, or more Kajabi gives you all the tools you need to build market and sell it with just a few clicks sign up at Sallyhendrick.com/kajabi. That's K a J a B. I Thank you for listening today. My name is Sally Hendrick. Be sure to visit our website for show notes and more information on how you can inspire others. If you would like to contribute content to our magazine, please apply on our website. Shoutyourcause.com.
