Lauren Mayfield, one of the Ole Miss students caught on a Ring camera making monkey noises outside a Black student’s apartment, is now the face of a GiveSendGo fundraiser launched by a far right organizer. The “Stand With Lauren” campaign, created by Tom Hennessey, has a goal of $10,000 and has already raised $4,068.
The video was posted by Ole Miss student Jakiyra Metcalf. Her Ring doorbell camera captured two white women making monkey noises and gestures outside the apartment she shares with two other Black female students. In the footage, one woman beats her chest while making the noises, another moves closer to the camera and joins in, and a third follows behind without appearing to participate. Metcalf says she later learned the women were her upstairs neighbors.
The University of Mississippi is now investigating. One of the women, Alaina Kunes, has publicly apologized. A roommate of Metcalf’s also says the girls claimed they were “stimming” when confronted about the noises. Following the backlash, Lauren Mayfield switched her Instagram account to private.
Mayfield has not apologized, and that’s exactly why Hennessey is raising money for her.
Before the fundraiser even launched, Hennessey posted that he’d been getting tagged and DMed about “the Ole Miss girls,” asked anyone who knew them personally to reach out, and wrote in all caps that they needed to make sure the women “DON’T APOLOGIZE.” Hours later, he announced the campaign was live, sharing a side by side image of Mayfield smiling in a personal photo next to a still from the Ring camera footage.
The Lauren Mayfield fundraiser page argues she did nothing wrong because she didn’t assault anyone or break any law. It dismisses the incident as a “juvenile stunt” and claims the backlash is only happening because the residents were Black. The page also blames what it calls “kosher media” for framing the video as racist, language widely recognized as an antisemitic dog whistle.
Hennessey says the money will cover lost income and opportunities so Mayfield “does not have to fold.” He even included a warning that he will cancel the fundraiser if Mayfield ever disavows his support and apologizes. In other words, the money only flows as long as she stays unapologetic.
Made to order and shipped to your door.
This isn’t Hennessey’s first time. He created the “Stand With Crystal” fundraiser for a fired Cinnabon worker who hurled racist slurs at Black customers, which raised more than $136,000. He also set up a GiveSendGo campaign for a Texas healthcare worker fired over a bigoted tirade, which was set to pay her $100,000. Slate writer Molly Olmstead has described Hennessey as an avowed white supremacist, and on his account he writes about defending “White American bloodlines.”
Ole Miss has been here before too. In May 2024, Phi Delta Theta removed a member filmed making monkey noises and gestures at a Black protester during a campus demonstration. That incident also became a rallying point for supporters who raised money on the student’s behalf.
The pattern is hard to miss. Get caught on camera being racist, refuse to apologize, and a crowdfunding check may be waiting on the other side.
The wrong people have also been caught in the crossfire. A 30 year old woman named Lauren, who has no connection to the incident and only shares a first name with Lauren Mayfield, was flooded with threats and updated her social media bio to read “not the lauren from ole miss.” The Alpha Phi sorority also pushed back after posts wrongly linked its members to the video by confusing women with similar names.
As of now, Ole Miss has not announced any disciplinary decision.
