‘The girls did nothing wrong’: Jake Lang fuels Ole Miss racism controversy with ape mask

Jake Lang, the far right activist, stoked fresh controversy by putting on an ape mask. This comes against the background of three Ole Miss students facing flak for making racist monkey-like gestures outside a black student's residence.

Jake Lang put on an ape mask fueling the Ole Miss racism controversy. (X/@JakeLang)The gestures made by the three white students were caught on the girl's doorbell camera and prompted outrage and an investigation. However, Lang seemed to fuel the controversy, saying, “The girls did nothing wrong.” In the video he doubled down on his ape impersonation and even expressed a wish for the black student to check her ring camera now.

Lang has recently come under fire for disrupting a Diwali event in Seattle. He is among the people who stormed the Capitol on January 6 and was issued a presidential pardon by Donald Trump. One of the students in the video, Ole Miss freshman Alaina Kunes, issued an apology for her actions.

“To the women I offended, and to the Ole Miss community, I sincerely apologize. Before the incident on November 6, I never met the women involved and was unaware of their race; however, I recognize my actions were insensitive, inappropriate, and deeply harmful.

I would have never intentionally made those noises or gestures toward a person of color. I have apologized to the women, and I pray they will forgive me. I can never truly understand the pain I have caused them, and it was never my intention.

These girls deserve to feel seen and understood, and what I did is not a reflection of who I am trying to become. Over the past several days, my family and I have received death threats and harassment. I am grateful for the authorities working to ensure our safety.

As I intend to cooperate fully with the University’s investigation, I ask for privacy for my family. I understand the seriousness of this situation and remain committed to taking responsibility and learning from this embarrassing ordeal,” she said, as per KFOR.

Also Read | Jake Lang ‘banned’ from Texas after allegedly threatening to kill Karmelo Anthony: 'I didn't have any weapons…' The Ole Miss chancellor also sought to assuage doubts among students and assure them about the campus being a safe space.

In a statement, the chancellor said, “All of us work hard to ensure that our students are welcome, safe and valued at our university. This week, members of our team have met and continue to engage with student leaders to listen to their concerns and to understand the impact of these actions across our campus.

Our focus has been and will continue to be on supporting our impacted students and ensuring their safety and well-being. Upon learning about the incident on the evening of Friday, Nov. 6, our staff responded quickly, providing care and resources.

We met with the students and their families to discuss our processes, and I can confirm that the university investigation is moving forward. We believe in holding students accountable through established processes. Please understand that federal privacy laws limit what we can share about individual students and any disciplinary outcomes.” The chancellor also seemed to refer to Lang's actions and said, “I also want to address the incident of an unaffiliated individual on our campus yesterday, who came here with the sole purpose to disrupt our university community with racist and detestable behavior.

As a public institution, we are committed to supporting First Amendment rights. At the same time, we vehemently denounce this person’s behavior, which does not align with our campus values. This individual’s actions were an obvious attempt to antagonize and offend our students, and in the face of bigotry, I am proud of the way our students demonstrated integrity and resolve.” While the black student's mother has reportedly made it clear that future statements will come through the family attorney, the white students enmeshed in the controversy have found support from some quarters.

One of the girls, identified as Lauren, has a GiveSendGo set up in her name. Shuvrajit has over seven years of experience covering US, India, and world news. An English Literature postgraduate from Jadavpur University, Shuvrajit started off covering entertainment, gaming and all things pop culture.

There were brief periods away from the media industry, with short stints in content marketing, ed-tech and academic editing. However, the newsroom beckoned and over the last few jobs, Shuvrajit has exceedingly focused on team functioning as well, including tracking news and assigning tasks, working on everyday breaking news, framing detailed coverage plans, and creating immersive and data-driven stories.

In his time as a digital journalist, he has covered a Lok Sabha election, multiple state elections, Union Budgets and award ceremonies. He has also helped in planning content for company event panels in the past. For work, Shuvrajit enjoys dabbling with data visualization, editing tools, and AI chatbots and attempts to incorporate AI workflows in everyday tasks.

He is deeply interested in geopolitics, sports, films and music. Prompting is a new fascination for Shuvrajit now. Apart from that, he can be found doom-scrolling, sharing memes, or cheering on his favorite football team.Read More