Police arrested a University of Kentucky student who was caught on camera using racial slurs and physically assaulting two black students on Sunday.
Police arrested Sophia Rosing, 22, who is white, just before 4 a.m. in a college dormitory on campus for drunkenness in a public place, third-degree assault on a police officer, fourth-degree assault and second-degree disorderly conduct, according to a Fayette County online record Detention center, which notes she is being held on $10,000 bail.
Video of the attack, which circulated on social media on Sunday, shows Rosing making racist remarks as Rosing assaults a woman who was working at the reception of a dormitory. The student tries to restrain Rosing, who appears visibly intoxicated and struggles to stay upright in the video.
“Can you stop?” asks the victim, who worked a night shift at Boyd Hall, according to an email university president Eli Capilouto sent to students on Sunday. (The video is titled “What I Had to Process at Work.”)
“No,” Rosing responds to the victim’s request to stop.
“I don’t get paid enough for this,” says the victim, while Rosing calls her a racist statement.
“I captured all of this on video,” said one recording the attack.
The video then shows the first victim and another victim trying to place Rosing in a chair. Rosing then tries to punch the second victim before attempting to kick the first victim, though it’s unclear if she actually punched.
The video ends with a white male police officer handcuffing Rosing in the dorm room as she continues to repeat the racist excuse and struggles to stay upright.
No one picked up any of the phone numbers listed under Rosing’s name. A Facebook message to what appears to be her account also went unanswered.
The school is not identifying the victims due to federal privacy laws, a spokesperson said.
Late Sunday afternoon, the online prison file identified Rosing as “Jane Doe.” A university spokesperson confirmed to NBC News that Rosing was the student who was arrested.
In his email to students, Capilouto, the university’s president, said the student employee victim “acted with professionalism, restraint and discretion.” The email also adds that the school’s Office of Student Conduct has launched an immediate assessment of the attack and that the Student Success teams are “contacting the students who have been victims of this behavior to offer support. “
“To be clear, we condemn this behavior and will not tolerate it under any circumstances,” Capilouto said in the email, promising to update students with more details as they become available. “The safety and well-being of our community has been – and remains – our top priority.”
In response to questions about whether Rosing is still enrolled at the school, a spokesperson said officials “will not talk to students’ disciplinary processes while they are on the road” and added that officials “will communicate with students and faculty tonight about the range of resources we have. offer and will provide.”
The attack is the latest in a series of racist incidents at the school that targeted black people.
In 2020, the university banned a basketball fan from all future sporting events after she made a racist statement — the same one Rosing used — to a supporter of a visiting team. That fan – Ashley Lyles, who then… apologized in a statement to WLEX — was not a student, a university spokesperson said.
In the past, some students have also complained about a mural on campus, dating from 1934, depicting what some believe to be enslaved black people. The mural was covered for over a year as officials debated how to deal with it before it was unveiled again in 2017 with a plaque next to it providing context on the mural’s history, concerns raised over the years. and how the university works make for a more inclusive environment.
A school spokesperson said the university announced plans to remove it after the murder of George Floyd in 2020 and the building that houses the mural has since closed.
In 2008, a University of Kentucky student and another man were arrested on charges of hanging a life-size effigy of then-President-Elect Barack Obama from a tree on campus, an act that university officials condemned. A grand jury declined to indict the couple.
In response to those reports, a university spokesperson pointed to the recent surge in enrollment of students of color — who now make up 16% of college students, according to a September press release — and school is underway diversity, equality and inclusion initiatives.