The lack of sensitivity and empathy that you express in response to this incident, Lisa, is chilling. It’s this sort of thinking that resulted in the police shooting of an unarmed 13-year-old boy with autism in Salt Lake City. This attitude led police to put 23-year-old Elijah McClain in a choke-hold that cost him his life for the crime of “being different.”

Mentally ill people don’t always have the choice to “behave themselves.” There’s no footage of what actually happened to spark the incident, but Ukenta’s actions clearly made things worse. She didn’t sound frightened. She taunted Elphick. People who fear for their lives don’t do that.

If Ukenta had simply left the store and reported the incident, there’d be no need to crowdfund for an attorney. There’s nothing that happened that justifies a legal defense to the tune of $100,000. Nobody got hurt. The police weren’t physically there to be on the hook for mishandling the situation. Retail employees are trained not to intervene in these situations so they can’t be held accountable.

There’s no obligation for Ukenta to spend that money on an attorney. If she had much of a case, which she doesn’t, it would have been no problem to get an attorney to take her case pro bono. She saw an opportunity to turn an unpleasant situation to her advantage.

I don’t imagine we’ll ever hear what happens in the aftermath of these “15 minutes of fame,” but one thing’s for sure, the punishment doesn’t fit the crime. This isn’t about justice. It’s about money. Ukenta wasn’t so traumatized that she forgot to plug her YouTube channel.