A former Kampgrounds of America employee who is shown threatening a black couple with a handgun in a viral video in May was found guilty Tuesday on a misdemeanor charge.
Ruby Howell, 70, of Starkville pleaded not guilty in June to the charge of threatening exhibition of a weapon. The case went to trial Tuesday in Oktibbeha County Justice Court, when District 2 Judge Larnzy Carpenter found Howell guilty and ordered her to pay a $250 fine, plus $182.25 in court fees, according to court records from Justice Court Clerk Shalonda Sykes.
The video, which garnered national media attention, shows Howell confronting Jessica and Franklin Richardson on May 26 at the KOA site at the Oktibbeha County Lake. Howell, who is white, tells the couple to leave the campsite while brandishing a revolver, saying the lake is “private property” and that they need a reservation to be there.
The Richardsons said they did not realize they needed to make a reservation and they would have left if asked.
Howell will not serve jail time for the incident. She was fired from KOA on May 28.
“Kampgrounds of America Inc. will not tolerate such behavior among our employees, our franchise partners or their employees,” the company wrote in a May 29 Facebook post. “Everyone, regardless of all preferences or ethnic backgrounds, is welcomed as our guests.”
KOA Vice President of Communication Michael Gast declined to comment Wednesday on the situation or the verdict.
The campground site in Starkville is a franchise location, for which Mary Frances Stansbury (wife of former Mississippi State men’s basketball coach Rick Stansbury) is listed as the registered agent on the Secretary of State’s website.
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