An Ohio mother of two is speaking out after receiving vicious death threats both directly and on social media over a viral video that has caused some to smear her as “racist,” which she says is completely false and the result of a “massive misunderstanding.”
Michelle Bishop spoke to Fox News Digital about the situation involving her neighbor, DaMichael Jenkins, who posted Ring camera footage of her in a panic at his front doorstep, believing she was being inappropriately followed by Jenkins and not believing his claim that he lived at the house he had pulled into.
The exchange has gone viral on social media, with news reports labeling her as a “Karen” who assumed Jenkins was a threat simply because of his race, which Bishop vehemently disputes.
Bishop told Fox News Digital that the incident in question began on a cold November night in Delaware County, Ohio, when she took her young daughter and son with her on a jog to go look at Christmas lights and a car with its headlights on was slowly driving behind them as they walked down a poorly lit street in the dark.
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DaMichael Jenkins, left, and Michelle Bishop. (Fox News)
Bishop then explained that she moved her kids onto the sidewalk but that the car did not pass her “in a timely manner” and that the driver began asking her questions.
“I didn’t answer, I walked into— I told my daughter, ‘walk up this driveway, turn here, don’t look back at the truck,’ and so we went into the driveway, ended up on the porch, was ringing the doorbell,” Bishop said.
“Nobody was answering at that point. The truck was backing into the driveway. He stayed in his truck. I could not see him and I look out at the driveway at that point and I said, ‘Is this your home?’ And he said, ‘Yes. And I said, ’I don’t believe that’ and in that moment I was in, just, complete defense mode. I was challenging it. There was no way of changing my mind at that point. I was completely in panic and just trying to protect my kids.”
Bishop had, in fact, attempted to seek shelter in the home that belonged to Jenkins, and the Ring doorbell footage captures her telling Jenkins that she doesn’t believe he lives there before running to another nearby house and yelling for help.
Footage from later shows Bishop telling Jenkins that he had “scared the crap” out of her and that she was “caught off guard.” Jenkins told Bishop he was not following her and was just admiring Christmas lights.
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Michelle Bishop speaks to Fox News Digital. (Fox News)
Bishop tells Fox News Digital she has apologized many times, which the Jenkins family would not accept, and thought the issue was resolved until the video was posted on a local neighborhood Facebook group and ultimately picked up by the media, causing a firestorm of hateful messages to come her way attacking her as a racist.
“It is causing massive devastation to our family in every way that you can possibly think,” she said. “Our family, our businesses. We are receiving hundreds, if not thousands, of threats at this point in our direct messages, to our phones, voicemails calling into stores. But some of the threats that we have received have become death threats.”
“You and your children deserve to die slow and you should kill yourself or it will be done for you,” Bishop was told in one message.
“We know who you are and where you live. Your husband is going to come home to being a single Dad. You should be hung in public,” another message said.
“There are multiple that are very graphic and violent in regards to our children that I do not want to share here,” she added. “Our businesses have seen massive devastation, one of them having to close temporarily due to death threats, calling into our shop, saying that they are going to kill every last one of the employees. So it is affecting us in massive ways.”
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Social media is littered with posts calling Bishop “racist,” including one post that said, “Michelle Bishop… count your f—ing days.”
Jenkins, a real estate developer, went on the “Nightcap” podcast with former NFL stars Shannon Sharpe and Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson earlier this week, a show with over 1.5 million subscribers on YouTube, and accused Bishop of racial profiling despite her claims that she did not know Jenkins’ race during the interaction.
Bishop told Fox News Digital that she “absolutely” did not know Jenkins was Black, and that she even told the neighbor at the house she ran to when she panicked that the person might have been White.
“The headlights were behind me and then the first time I looked out in the driveway at his truck, the headlights were there and I was not specifically trying to look at him,” Bishop said. “I was addressing the situation. I absolutely did not know what he looked like. Like I said, I thought he was a young White man. It was all a massive misunderstanding. That’s all that it was.”
Bishop has received some support on social media from prominent conservative accounts, including that of commentator and author Matt Walsh.
“I’m late to this but of course the internet outrage mob got this situation completely wrong,” Walsh posted on X. “The woman saw a truck following behind her slowly. She panicked about the truck before she ever saw who was inside it. Later that night she came back and apologized for the mistake.”
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Walsh continued, “That should have been the end of it. No harm, no foul, nobody was hurt. An innocent mistake. Instead this guy decides to put the footage online and shame her in front of the world. And unsurprisingly a bunch of slobbering idiots on social media ran with it uncritically and proceed to tear this woman’s life apart. Good job, everyone. Some of you will just never learn.”
Bishop told Fox News Digital that she hopes to reconcile with the Jenkins family.
“I believe a love can cover a multitude of things and what happened that night was a massive misunderstanding,” she said. “We are lovers of all people, and if given the opportunity, like I said, I believe forgiveness should be given to all, and I would love to sit down with them.”
“I think what happened that night was a massive misunderstanding,” continued Bishop. “I do hold their heart, hearing their perspective on things. I’ve never been in their shoes. I don’t know what they’re up against. I can’t speak to that. So hearing their point of view and how he felt, I understand that. But it really was a massive misunderstanding. I really wish, I do hope and wish that they understand that on that night I was a mama bear trying to protect my kids. That is all that. It was a massive misunderstanding and if given the opportunity, like I said, I would love to reconcile that relationship.”
Jenkins did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to [email protected].
