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Sophia Rosing

Sophia Rosing | Source: Fayette County Detention Center

A former student at the University of Kentucky who was shown on video leading a racist, violent attack on campus against a Black student pleaded not guilty to the anti-Black assault despite a wealth of video and circumstantial evidence supporting the charges.

It was a masterclass in white privilege on Friday morning as Sophia Rosing tried to pretend before a Kentucky court that she didn’t commit the acts she is shown doing on video footage that suggests race, at least partially, motivated her violence.

In case you missed it, Rosing back in November was confronted by Kylah Spring, a freshman, for not producing the required identification to enter a dormitory where Spring was working an overnight shift. Rosing responded in kind with a spate of anti-Black racist slurs and a violent attack that was fended off by Spring.

Police responded and arrested Rosing, but not before she bit and kicked a University of Kentucky police officer, intentionally attempting to cause him harm, according to court documents.

Rosing was seen accompanied by her parents after being released on a $10,000 bond the next day.

Last month, Rosing, 22, was criminally indicted by a grand jury for third-degree assault of a police officer, two counts of fourth-degree assault, second-degree disorderly conduct and alcohol intoxication.

It was in that context that local news outlet Lex 18 reported that “Rosing showed very little emotion in court” on Friday.

The scene described in court is very on-brand for Rosing.

The evidence against Rosing is damning

Spring was working in a University of Kentucky dormitory during the early morning hours of Nov. 6 when she confronted Rosing, who appeared intoxicated and did not produce the required ID to enter an elevator.

That’s when Rosing got violent, and racist, spewing the N-word dozens of times during a one-sided fight that Spring and another Black student attempted to de-escalate and fend her off.

What happened?

Spring posted her own videos to social media following the racist encounter to explain what happened and said Rosing “stumbled across the front desk over to the elevator and she started talking to the elevator.” Spring said her job duties require her to intervene and call a resident assistant (RA) if she sees a student that appears to be “very drunk.”

Spring said when she asked Rosing if she was okay, the response was unadulterated and anti-Black racism.

“She continues to look at me and she starts calling me a nigger,” Spring said before adding: “She kept saying it.”

Spring said she tried to keep Rosing from getting inside the dorm elevator because there was no evidence she stayed there. That’s when she was peppered with the N-word and then some.

“Do my chores, bitch,” Spring said Rosing exclaimed in response.

Spring said Rosing bit her arm, punched her in the face, kicked her in the stomach, used a grocery cart in the dorm lobby as a weapon and bit another Black student trying to help before the RA showed up.

The aftermath

The University of Kentucky community has rallied around Spring, who spoke during a campus vigil in November and vowed before a large crowd that Rosing “will not break my spirit.”

A GoFundMe account began on Spring’s behalf and has since raised nearly $18,000, much more than its goal of $10,000.

Rosing, who was a senior, withdrew from the University of Kentucky before the school handed down any discipline.

The court in November ordered Rosing to have no contact with the dormitory or Spring and forbid her from consuming alcohol.

Shortly after her arrest, a video tweeted in 2021 resurfaced and showed an apparent drunken Rosing mocking someone’s economic status.

Spring told CBS News she was “not surprised” Rosing had not apologized and was commended for handling the situation with grace and aplomb.

“I wanted to make sure I acted appropriately so that I could keep my job because the script could have been flipped at any time if I had retaliated,” Spring said.

What’s next for Rosing?

Rosing’s mother started an online petition to give her daughter “a second chance” at the University of Kentucky.

Jill Rosing claimed that “Sophia is very remorseful for what she has done,” appealed for people to sign the petition and downplayed her daughter’s weaponized usage of the N-word.

“She needs support to pick up where she has left off in all this madness and bloodthirsty,” Jill Rosing wrote on the petition. “What is one word compared to someone’s entire future?”

As of Sunday morning, the petition had garnered 400 of its stated goal of 500 signatures.

Rising is due back in court in May.

This is America.

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