Baller Alert Entertainment & Lifestyle
There’s a wild misconception that what you say online can not be held against you offline. One Barry University law student named Daniella Pedrozo is finding that out the hard way after allegedly making a racist remark towards media maven/public speaker/humanitarian Karen Civil.
The incident occurred on the morning of Friday, December 5th. Karen Civil, who has over 200,000 Instagram followers, posted a photo of herself at a speaking engagement at Western Michigan University. At a time where racial tension is high due to the deaths of Mike Brown (Ferguson), Tamir Rice (Ohio), and Eric Garner (New York), Karen posted encouraging words to followers in hopes of spreading awareness and seeking justices. The following is what transpired under that post.
After telling African American’s to “get over it” and the use of the racial slur “n*gger”, Daniella, a law student, quickly became an example of racial insensitivity on the internet and in the judicial system.
Daniella’s comments sparked the following posts by Karen Civil.
It wasn’t long before Daniella claimed that her Instagram page had been hacked. She also changed her Instagram page to @danibearrr, then back to @daniella_pedrozo, several times to avoid notifications from angry Instagram users.
This sparked a social-media wide frenzy that resulted in phone calls and emails to both Daniella’s employer (her father) and the Dean of Barry University. There was so much backlash from Daniella Pedrozo’s remarks that Barry University took to their Facebook page to make a statement.
It’s needless to say that African American social media users did not take favor to Barry University’s statement and what appeared to be them siding with Daniella who now claimed her phone was lost instead of hacked as she said previously. The calls and emails to the Dean’s office continued with the public asking why an investigation is not being done and why they would easily take the word of the student without gathering all information, especially when such an ugly word is being used by a future attorney. This prompted Barry University to release another statement.
The Dean’s son Albert also got involved.
Strangely, after Barry University officials defend Daniella, she took to the school’s Instagram to say that she did NOT attend the school. This happens to be the complete opposite of not only what the school says, but what she has listed on her social media pages.
So let’s keep up with everything so far. Daniella was hacked, then the story was that she lost her non-password-protected cell phone, now it’s that she doesn’t even attend Barry University at all, despite the fact that the Dean has already spoken on her behalf. By now the story has grown legs tremendously and made it’s way from social media to blog sites to CNN and the Miami Herald.
Karen Civil issued a statement to the media explaining the details of what happened. Read below:
“I posted an image on my personal Instagram account after speaking at Western Michigan University for my Live Civil College Tour. In the post, I spoke on the issues American’s have been facing the last few months with police brutality & rights. My statement on the Mike Brown and Eric Gardner tragedies never focused on race, culture or identity, but our rights as American citizens to feel protected and have a sense of security.
Law Student Daniella Pedrozo, left a comment on my page early this morning stating the only people who had issues where African Americans, mentioning she was a lawyer and we should “get over it”. I responded by asking her to leave my page, in which she responded by using racial slurs and calling me a “Nigger”. As individuals we all have the right to exercise our freedom of speech. I believe this is what the student was attempting to do; nonetheless to verbally attack one based on the color of their skin is not okay. It further saddens me that this individual plans to one day be a legal representative.
I brought it to the attention of my followers who as well, as myself reached to the school for some course of action for Daniella’s behavior. Dean Leticia Diaz posted a statement on the school’s official Facebook page claiming her phone was stolen, and Daniella’s account was allegedly hacked. It’s troubling to think Barry University would promote an academic atmosphere that supports this narrow kind of thinking. Their law school should encourage students to have healthy open discourse in light of recent racial unrest across the country. This should have been the university’s opportunity to denounce hate and racism but instead the university shows it’s true colors by excusing the behavior. Disappointed to say the least at both Daniella Pedrozo’s behavior & Dean’s Leticia Diaz Decision.
I hope we all can learn from this experience and that necessary steps are taken to ensure a united country; not a country divided by the negative views and beliefs of others based on skin color.”
Daniella followed with a statement of her own, breaking down her account of what happened. She did so from a newly created Instagram account @DPedrozo, though her other account @daniella_pedrozo is still active and in use.
Before we get to the contents of the statement, I would like to address that the post above is after Daniella posted the statement for the SECOND time. The first time she posted the statement she used the #HandsUpDontShoot that could clearly be interpreted as her mocking protesters who support justice for Mike Brown. Below is a screenshot from the original post before it was removed and reposted with a completely different caption.
Now let’s get into my opinion of what is transpiring. Do I buy the story that her phone was stolen? Absolutely not, because Daniella doesn’t even buy it. Was she hacked or was her phone stolen? Which was it? Does she attend Barry University or does she not attend Barry University? Her inconsistency in the most simple of facts leads me to believe that there is a lot of truth missing and it actually concerns me that her school, a school of law, did not catch up on this. Her chain of events also concerns me. According to her, she lost her phone at the airport and did not realize it until the next day. So, I’m assuming she didn’t call anyone to pick her up from the airport, check her Instagram or anything for a full day? In the fast paced world of social media and technology, where young people practically live with their cell phones in their hands, I find this hard to believe.
Following the chain of events, she was not made aware of her missing phone until she woke up the next morning to realize the racist remark made on Karen Civil’s page. It’s then that she changed her password, locked her Instagram account and used Apple’s FindMyiPhone app to erase the phone (this part is important so make a mental note of it).
After locking her Instagram page according to Daniella, she does not call the authorities to report her phone stolen but instead, calls her school to make them aware of what transpired. She says she did this as a preventative measure to document what transpired. Keep in mind, according to Daniella’s own statement, Karen Civil hadn’t even posted her information online yet. According to Daniella’s own breakdown, no calls to her school or employer have even been placed yet. As far as anyone knew, she was just one in a hundred other comments on a celebrity social media page.
Here’s the interesting thing. Daniella claims she made her page private as soon as she found out what happened & before Karen posted her information. But if that was the case how did Karen, who does not follow Daniella on social media, manage to take a screen shot of Daniella’s open account (refer to screen shot above). She also said that she erased the phone and changed her password, but does not explain who (if it wasn’t her) posted that she does NOT attend Barry. Daniella, you’re going to have to be quicker than that in law school, beloved.
What bothers me is that Daniella does not use this opportunity to take responsibility or show any amount of accountability. Instead she blames Karen Civil. She blames Karen for posting her Facebook page (which lists her school/employer) for her 200k followers to see. She blames Karen for the hundreds of reposts by fellow celebrities and media. She blames Karen Civil for not “doing her research” — but this is the same girl who didn’t know her phone was missing until a day later. She says that it’s impossible for her to be racist because she too is a minority and she voted for Barack Obama twice. To me, this is the equivalent of saying “I can’t be racist because my best friend is black.” It’s just not good enough.
Daniella does offer somewhat of an apology, sort of. Saying that she apologizes for the misunderstanding. She also says that she will reply to questions from her new account @DPerozo, but as of now has yet to do so.
With all due respect, I would have rather she just say she was abducted by aliens.
Due to the overwhelming amount of publicity this issue is garnering, I along with others, are very interested in seeing what Barry University plans to do next. If you would like to send an email with your thoughts on this matter to Barry University:
Leticia Diaz (Dean) [email protected] or call (321) 206-5602
Ruth A. Witherspoon (Sr. Ass. Dean & Visiting Ass. Professor of Law) [email protected] or call (321) 206-5614.
Daniella’s employer (her father Alejandro Pedrozo) is Athenea Dermatology & Aesthetic Medicine (305) 642-5500
You can leave reviews at https://www.facebook.com/AtheneaDermatology
Let this be a lesson, freedom of speech is not free and what you say can and will be held against you in the court of public opinion. Be mindful of what you do/say online. It can come back to bite you (especially if you have your school listed in your bio).
