Minnesota mom acquitted of charge for calling child the n-word in playground tirade — but doesn’t get totally off the hook

The Minnesota mom caught on viral video hurling a racial slur at a 5-year-old black child was acquitted of one count of disorderly conduct for her offensive tirade against the boy — but she wasn’t let completely off the hook.
Instead, a six-person jury found Shiloh Hendrix guilty of a different disorderly conduct charge related to the shocking April 2025 playground incident, according to local reports.
The guilty verdict, delivered late Thursday, involved the 37-year-old mom’s words and behavior towards the man who recorded the ugly confrontation, MPR News reported.
She raised almost $900,000 through an online fundraiser titled “Help Me Protect My Family.”
“I called the kid out for what he was,” the page still reads, and claims that her private information, including her social security number and address, were leaked by outraged people online.
Hendrix was placed on probation and slapped with 200 hours of community service and a $1,000 fine. She initially faced up to 90 days behind bars – the maximum sentence for disorderly conduct – but will only have to serve jail time if she violates her probation, Olmsted County District Judge Christa M. Daily said.
Hendrix’s fate was decided over a year after a horrific video showing her unapologetically using the n-word to describe the boy, who is also autistic, went viral online.
When the videographer, a black man named Sharmake Omar, confronted her over the use of the slur, Hendrix doubled down, directing the vile slur at the concerned adult who was standing up for a child.
“If that’s what he’s going to act like,” Hendrix retorted, according to the video, which also shows her holding her own child. She then said the n-word several more times, directed at Omar.
Hendrix has claimed that the young boy was going through a bag containing her child’s belongings, which made her justified in using the slur.
After the shocking clip spread online, the potty-mouthed mama said she faced a wave of harassment and begged for sympathy – which a surprising number of people afforded her.
The jury deliberated for nine hours following the dramatic, four-day trial – which repeatedly saw Judge Daily and Hendrix’s defense attorney, Brian Karalus, at each other’s throats, according to reports from inside the courtroom and Karalus.
“We’re dealing with a judge who’s very temperamental and emotional and, without question…she is 100% pro-state,” Karalus told The Post earlier this week. “She doesn’t even try to hide it.”
The pair frequently sparred over evidence, lines of witness questioning and Karalus’ behavior inside the courtroom, MPR News reported.
In his closing argument, prosecutor Nicholas Shabel claimed Hendrix was ready to physically attack the boy during the incident.
Hendrix “screaming at the child, her demeanor, her language all speak to this,” Shabel told the jury, according to the outlet.
Karalus argued that Hendrix’s choice of words was distasteful and immoral – but not illegal.
“We can say a word is ugly and still defend another person’s right to say it,” he told the jury. “The state of Minnesota has decided to prosecute Ms. Hendrix for language.”
The defense attorney vowed to appeal the jury’s decision – calling it “pathetic” and “sad.”