Alaila Everett, the teen whom the cameras caught smashing a baton against her opponent’s skull, held a rally on Thursday. The athlete spoke to a crowd, reiterating their support for her. Alaila Everett’s rally took place shortly after her victim’s family slammed her with an assault charge. Her mother has also continued to defend her daughter, claiming the incident was purely accidental.
Alaila Everett Attends Rally After Assault Charge
The Virginia teen in the middle of the baton controversy, Alaila Everett, has been hit with an assault charge. Following receipt of the motion, the I.C. Norcom High School student attended a rally to speak to supporters. During the rally, Alaila insisted she was innocent of the accusation and that footage from the incident misrepresented the situation. She held the rally outside her school in Portsmouth, Virginia, where dozens of supporters gathered to show solidarity.
“Thank y’all for supporting me. 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,” she said to the crowd, according to Fox News.
She continued, crying:
“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.” As she rounded off her speech, her supporters applauded her while chanting, “We stand with you.”
NAACP Defends Virginia Teen
Alaila’s rally happened a day after she received a notice of the misdemeanor battery and assault charge. A few activists, including Portsmouth NAACP President James Boyd, spoke in support of the athlete at the rally. He said:
“The Everett family has experienced racial slurs, they’ve experienced death threats, and we think unequivocally that those things are unacceptable.”
Meanwhile, the organization had earlier defended Alaila a day before she received the assault charge.
“Alaila is NOT AN ATTACKER and media headlines that allude towards that in any way is shameful,” they said, per Fox News. “We understand the sensitivity of the circumstances for both athletes and their families involved but this narrative must not go unaddressed. Alaila is an honor student and a star athlete at the historic I.C. Norcom High School. From all accounts, she is an exceptional young leader and scholar whose athletic talent has been well documented and recognized across our state. She has carried herself with integrity both on and off the field and any narrative that adjudicates her guilty of any criminal activity is a violation of her due process rights.”
Alaila’s Mother Issues Statement On Daughter’s Behalf
Onsite also obtained a copy of Alaila Everett’s mother, Genoa Everett’s statement after the assault charge. She said media stations refused to show pictures and footage demonstrating that the situation was an accident.
“These news channels refuse to show this information the way we presented it to them several times over… It is clear to us that they don’t care about the well being of our child Alaila Everett at all,” she wrote on social media. Genoa added that the media was “contributing to the damaging and hurtful treatment of our child ON PURPOSE.”
She claimed that her daughter’s circumstances would have improved if the media presented the “specific detailed and momentum changing pictures and videos” they offered. Alaila’s mother noted that she and a community of supporters would continue to “uplift” the teen. She also claimed that the truth would be exposed in due time. Alaila Everett’s mother is not the only family member who has defended her before and after the assault charge. A relative also posted slowed-down footage to prove her innocence.
Alaila Everett’s assault charge has intensified the severity of the situation. While she claims she is innocent, her opponent, Kaelen Tucker, had a concussion and possible skull fracture from the incident. Meanwhile, netizens have noted that the Virginia teen has not truly apologized since the incident occurred. Hopefully, she will do that and prove she is indeed sorry.
#Clique, what do you think about Alaila Everett’s statement to supporters? Let us know in the comments.
