A Michigan woman claims she’s being bombarded with racist messages and even death threats from strangers online after she confronted some anti-Islam protesters in Dearborn. The group had reportedly gathered on Tuesday after controversial far-right activist Jake Lang planned a large “Christian Crusade March” to protest what he described as the growing influence of Islam in the city.
The woman, who goes by @riamm870 on TikTok, shared a short video of herself driving past a group of those protesters when one of the men started yelling at her as she passed.
In response, she shouted back at the man, calling him a racial slur repeatedly. And when another protester joined in to yell and make rude gestures at her, she hurled the same slur at them.
The video quickly took off on TikTok, garnering more than 500,000 views and over 60,000 likes. In the comments, netizens’ reactions were split.
Netizens React to Michigan Woman’s TikTok
Some viewers had no problem with the way the woman handled those protesters and said they wanted in on the action. “I’m not using my free will like I should. Call me next time yall go lol,” one person joked. Another cheered her on, writing, “YALL NEED A BULLHORN!! Thank you for shutting those racists up!”
A third asked, “Why are they so obsessed with Muslims? Live and let live,” while a fourth chimed in, “Mind you muslims have always been there why are [sic] choosing now to make a fuss.”
Others, however, thought responding with a racial insult was not the way to go. “That was racist you should’ve just drove off,” one comment read. Another said, “I don’t know about fighting racism with racism seems counterintuitive.” Someone else wrote, “It makes you feel better to yell at them but the best way to deal with ignorance is to ignore it.”
Beyond the disagreement playing out in the comments, however, some people took things much further.
Woman Posts Strangers’ Racist Messages and Threats
In a follow-up TikTok post, the woman, who says she is white, shared screenshots of several disturbing messages she said landed in her DMs after the video went viral.
One person used anti-Muslim slurs while telling her, “I hope they hunt you down,” and claiming her “time is short.” Other accounts sent her messages containing highly derogatory ethnic slurs, including one that wished sexual violence and death on her.
However, rather than appearing intimidated, she seemingly made light of at least one of the messages, responding, “Ay don’t threaten me with a good time.”
The usernames behind the messages were visible in the screenshots she shared publicly. But other than exposing the messages and the accounts that sent them, the woman has not indicated whether she plans to take any further action against the people behind them.
