SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KOLR) – A Missouri woman is apologizing for the “ugly” things she said in a now-viral video recorded at a local Black Lives Matter protest.
The video, which surfaced on Monday, isn’t long. It only runs about 35 seconds. In it, Kathy Jenkins sits and later stands on the bed of a pickup truck while holding and dancing with a Confederate flag.
“I will teach my grandkids to hate you all,” she says to someone off camera. She later raises her fist and declares “KKK belief.”
Since the video surfaced, Kathy says she’s been locked out of Facebook and fired from her job (a punishment she says she deserved). She says she’s been the target of a few threats and she says even her friends are being threatened.
When she called sister station KOLR, she wouldn’t even say where she was calling from; only specifying that she has left Branson, her home of six years.
The call was a response to what she describes as a misunderstood portion of her day that was caught on video.
“I was chanting Black Lives Matter… and that’s not even on video,” she said on Wednesday. “It’s like I blacked out. I don’t even remember.”
Jenkins said she was only there in the parking lot of Dixie Outfitters to observe the nearby Black Lives Matter protest.
“I’ve never been to one,” she said. “I just wanted to see what the rally was all about.”
She said while watching from the other side of the street someone handed her a Confederate flag. She claims she didn’t fully know what it represented but assumed it was a symbol of unity. She also said she was in the bed of a truck belonging to someone she didn’t know.
Later, when people from the other side of the street approached her, she says she lost her temper.
“I hadn’t said anything until they came into my face … it’s like I blacked out. I don’t even remember saying half the stuff that I said.”
As for the part about holding the same beliefs as the Ku Klux Klan, she said she was mocking the people who approached her.
“I wasn’t saying I’m KKK or for the KKK. I was mocking them because I don’t like being called a racist,” she said.
Now she’s apologizing.
Along with vowing to never hold another Confederate flag, Jenkins is offering both lamentations and her time to the people she offended.
“I’m so, so sorry,” she said Wednesday. “I mean, if it would help for me to stand with Black Lives Matter, I absolutely would do that.”
Below you can read a full apology written by Kathy Jenkins:
As many of you know I am Kathy. I just wanted to start with saying that I am truly deeply sorry for what I said. This isn’t who I am as a person. I obviously cannot take back what I said. I can only learn from this. I want to make it clear. I am not teaching my children or grandchildren to hate anyone. No one. Ever. I’ve always taught them to respect and love anyone no matter the race. I’ve always taught them to treat people with the same respect as they would want to be treated. My words and actions have been a learning experience. Not only did I learn from this, but I hope this message helps others that they cannot take back what they have said. Again I am so so sorry because that is not who I am. I would never ever want to see anyone hurt and I don’t care who they are.”
-Kathy Jenkins
