Virginia teen track runner who bashed opponents head with baton rallies supporters after getting assault charge
The Virginia teen who was seen bashing an opponent’s head with a baton during a high school track meet held a rally of supporters on Thursday to reiterate her innocence.The rally came just one day after she was served with a misdemeanor battery and assault charge. The student, Alaila Everett, held the rally outside of her school, I.C.Norcom High School, in Portsmouth, Virginia.Dozens of individuals were seen attending the rally, as Everett delivered a tearful speech, where she thanked her supporters while sobbing. “Thank y’all for supporting me,” Everett said to the supporters, as seen in footage by local Virginia news station WAVY.
“There’s no one else that wanted to hear my story, except the people that know me and people that know I would never do anything like that, I would never harm anybody.I’m not a fighter, I’m not even confrontational, I wouldn’t even do that on purpose, and I thank y’all for believing in me.
I love y’all.”Everett’s speech was met with loud applause and a chant of “We stand with you.”Portsmouth NAACP President James Boyd also spoke at the rally, alleging threats and slurs that have been directed at Everett’s family.“The Everett family has experienced racial slurs, they’ve experienced death threats, and we think unequivocally that those things are unacceptable,” Boyd said.Local community activist Germain Green called for unity from the community in support of the teenager. “It bothered me to my heart to see how the whole world was dragging this young lady, dragging her character based on what they thought they saw.I just wanted to step up, speak out, and bring unity and let this young lady know that the city of Portsmouth has her back,” Green said.Lynchburg Commonwealth’s Attorney Office confirmed to Fox News Digital Wednesday that one misdemeanor charge of assault and battery had been filed over the incident. The incident occurred last Tuesday during a championship meet, as footage show...