Utah Teens Slammed After Blackface Video Goes Viral; Governor Issues Statement

A group of teens in Utah are at the receiving end of some harsh criticism after a video of them in blackface was shared on social media.

The video first shared on TikTok was recorded at a Walmart in Cedar City and shows two teens in a small group dressed as prisoners with blackened faces for Halloween night. A woman is heard calling them out for their "hate crime," the New York Post reported.

"Do you guys understand the consequences of what you've just done?" a woman behind the camera asks. "You guys are not going to get into a college. You guys are not going to get any scholarships, because this is a hate crime."

One of the teens responds, "We all dropped out of high school, it's okay," and turns to his friends, who continue laughing.

The TikTok user who posted the video captioned it "Who are these kids in Cedar City Utah? Please spread this so we can find them!" The video caused an uproar on social media with many users strongly condemning the teens' problematic behavior. Here's a reaction to the video shared on Twitter:

A police investigation was also been launched into both, the blackface incident and the online harassment as a result of it, Gephardtdaily reported.

There were speculations that the teenagers involved were students of Cedar Valley High School. However, a statement from the school has debunked this. The statement, released by the Alpine School District, said that public comments had "incorrectly named a few Cedar Valley High School students as participants."

"After an investigation in cooperation with the Utah County Sheriff's Office, we can confirm that this information is false. Cedar Valley High School students were not involved in the video. Additionally, we are deeply concerned that some of our students have been targeted with hateful and slanderous comments and threats," the statement read.

Iron County School District also said that the teens in the video were "not students enrolled in iron County Schools."

Cedar City police have issued a cautionary note regarding online harassment of students over this incident. "While topics such as these can cause an emotional reaction, we encourage everyone to be mindful when sharing videos of juveniles on social media, including any cyber and other harassment that can accompany this type of incident," the police said Tuesday, adding that social media was being "actively monitored."

Furthermore, Utah Governor Spencer Cox, too, has reacted to the ignorance of the teens, issuing a statement Tuesday where he urged Utahns to "do better" and said that the state "condemns racism in all forms."

"We strongly condemn racism in all its forms and we call on every Utahn to reject such offensive stereotypes, slurs and attitudes. We must do better," Cox said.