Follow-up: Family Dealership Distances Itself From Ole Miss Student in Viral Doorbell Video as Black Student Union Demands Discipline Under the M Book
There are new developments around the doorbell-video case at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss), in Oxford, Lafayette County, Mississippi. According to USA Today and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, both part of the USA TODAY Network, reporting on November 11, Alaina Kunes, the student who identified herself and has withdrawn from the university, comes from the founding family of Wisconsin's Kunes Auto Group, and the company has issued a statement saying she has no affiliation with it. The University of Mississippi Black Student Union is demanding a full investigation and discipline proportionate to the seriousness of the incident. GSM has previously reported the targeted students' first public interview and other developments in the case.
Kunes's attorney, Thomas G. Gardiner, confirmed to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that she is the daughter of Scott Kunes. The attorney said she is not employed by, and holds no ownership in, the Kunes Auto Group founded by her grandfather Gregg Kunes, and that her father is not currently involved in the business either. Scott Kunes resigned as the group's chief operating officer on February 17. The company operates dozens of dealerships across Wisconsin.
"The individual in the video has no employment, ownership, or professional affiliation with Kunes Auto Group. We do not comment on private citizens unaffiliated with the company," Kunes Auto Group said in a statement on November 9. The statement added that the organization is built on treating every person with dignity and respect and does its best to live out those values.
USA Today also reported two earlier racial incidents at the group's dealerships. In August, a woman filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against Kunes Buick GMC, alleging that a technician at the dealership had written a racial slur on her oil change sticker in 2025. In April, another Black woman said a salesman at a Kunes dealership in Elkhorn had texted her an image of a dancing ape wearing a bathing suit. Both dealerships fired the employees involved, according to the report.
The targeted students' families are also speaking out. Vincent Ford, 54, the grandfather of roommate Kaiyden Caldwell and a retired federal law enforcement officer, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on November 10 that his granddaughter contacted him after the incident, that he was deeply disturbed by the video, and that he wanted to make sure his granddaughter and her roommates were safe. "Even though these type of things happen, they're not tolerated," he said. "We're gonna make sure that everybody's held accountable for their actions." Tasha Bolton, the mother of another roommate, posted the video on Facebook, saying her daughter had sent her the footage from the apartment she shares with two Black roommates. "The video has been shared with university administration, and we want answers. Specifically, what steps will be taken to address this behavior and ensure accountability?" she wrote.
Demetrick M. Stringer Jr., executive president of the University of Mississippi Black Student Union, said the organization wants a full investigation and for the students responsible to "receive disciplinary measures consistent with the M book and proportionate to the very serious nature of race-based harassment." He wrote that comparisons of this kind carry a long and painful history, and that directing them at a student where she lives has left her, and many of the union's members, feeling unwelcome and unsafe. The Black Student Union condemned the behavior without qualification and said it stands firmly with the student.
The Mississippi Clarion Ledger also reported that, according to TMZ, the ACLU of Mississippi has received complaints and is investigating the incident. Shawnboda Mead, the university's vice chancellor for student affairs, has warned that at least one student accused of being involved was in fact misidentified, and stated clearly that no members of the university's sorority community were involved. The Alpha Psi chapter at Ole Miss echoed that point in a statement confirming that none of its members were involved, and said the false identification has caused real distress to the misidentified women, their families and the chapter. The video has now been viewed more than 13 million times, and the university's investigation is continuing. Mead has said any disciplinary outcome will not be shared because of student privacy laws, and the second woman in the video has still not been publicly identified.
Source: USA Today
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：密西西比大学 Ventress Hall 教学楼资料图（Dudemanfellabra 摄，CC BY-SA 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons），已裁为16:9，非事发公寓。/ Ventress Hall at the University of Mississippi (file photo by Dudemanfellabra, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons), cropped to 16:9; not the apartment in the video.
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- 2026-11-11Follow-up: Family Dealership Distances Itself From Ole Miss Student in Viral Doorbell Video as Black Student Union Demands Discipline Under the M BookThis story
