White woman is CLEARED after calling black autistic boy, 8, the n-word but convicted of disorderly conduct against man who filmed racist interaction

A white woman has been cleared by a court of a hate crime charge after she was accused of calling an eight-year-old black autistic boy a racial slur, but she was convicted of disorderly conduct in connection with her treatment of a man who filmed the confrontation. The mixed verdict means she avoids the more serious racially aggravated charge while still facing accountability for her conduct during the recorded altercation, a case that has drawn attention for highlighting the difficulty of securing convictions in disputed racial abuse allegations even when incidents are captured on video.

The case centred on a confrontation in which the woman allegedly directed a racist slur at the young boy, who has autism, prompting a bystander to film the exchange. While jurors did not convict her over the alleged use of the n-word towards the child, they found her guilty of disorderly conduct relating to her behaviour towards the man who recorded the interaction. Full details of the sentencing and the specific circumstances of the case were not included in the available report.