The Most Hated Person on Campus

HOW A SHAKY ALLEGATION IGNITED A FRENZY AND DESTROYED A YOUNG WOMAN'S LIFE  

- EMMA CAMP

THE STORY WENT something like this: A white woman pulled up to a Black Women Matter protest in Charlottesville and told attendees they would make “good fucking speed bumps.” When protesters confronted her, the driver cried and called the police.

If you were a student at the University of Virginia (UVA) during summer 2020—as I was—you almost certainly heard this tale. It was repeated hundreds of times, over group chats and Instagram posts and viral tweets. The rumors were given a sheen of legitimacy by local news reporting and were acknowledged by the university administration.

The allegations first attracted attention after Zyahna Bryant, a 19-year-old UVA student and social justice activist, made them on Twitter during the demonstration. Her account would be retweeted more than 1,000 times. “The woman in this truck approached protesters in #Charlottesville, and told us that we would make ‘good speedbumps,’” Bryant wrote. “She then called the police and started crying saying we were attacking her.”

Bryant also posted a series of videos—not of the alleged “speed bump” comment itself, but of its aftermath. In the videos, an SUV reverses down a street while Bryant and several other protesters follow. “It’s a Karen, it’s a Karen,” Bryant taunts.