Jessica Richardson/FacebookA campground manager who pulled a gun on a black couple while they enjoyed a picnic has been arrested.
Ruby Nell Howell turned herself in to the Oktibbeha County Sheriff’s Department where she faces a misdemeanor charge of threatening exhibition of a weapon.
The 70-year-old was released on a $500 bond and will appear in court on June 25. If convicted, she could face up to three months in prison and a $500 fine.
Howell went viral last month when Jessica Richardson uploaded a video of her approaching the couple with a gun at the Kampgrounds of America in Missippi.
The manager had been asking the couple to leave when she discovered they didn’t have a reservation, however Jessica insists they were told at reception that they didn’t need to be staying at the campground to spend the day by Oktibbeha County Lake.
In the clip, you can see Howell approaching the couple with a gun in her hand after arriving in her truck.
Jessica can be heard saying:
This lady just pulled a gun because we out here and don’t have reservations.
The only thing you had to tell us was to leave, we would have left. You didn’t have to pull a gun.
PAHowell responded:
Well I’m just telling you, you need to leave because it’s under private ownership.
You can’t be out here.
As the conversation went on, the video appeared to show Howell put the gun in her pocket and continuing to speak to the couple, who eventually walked away with their dog.
Jessica later shared the video to Facebook, telling her followers ‘racism is alive and well’.
Jessica Richardson/FacebookShe wrote:
Today was a beautiful day so my husband (who’s a vet), our 2 year old dog, and myself, decided to Google a lake to visit and have a picnic. We found a lake located in Starkville and decided to visit.
Not five mins later a truck pulls up and a white lady screams at us, she then jumps out of her truck with a gun… and proceeded to point it at the 3 of us, simply because we didn’t make reservations.
After leaving, my husband stopped by the office and talked with her husband (they’re the property managers). The husband tells my husband that reservations aren’t needed for the lake.
Shortly after the video went viral, Kampgrounds of America confirmed they had sacked the woman in question and were ‘looking into the matter.’
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Emma Rosemurgey is an NCTJ trained Journalist who started her career by producing The Royal Rosemurgey newspaper in 2004, which kept her family up to date with the goings on of her sleepy north east village. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and started her career in regional newspapers before joining Tyla (formerly Pretty 52) in 2017, and progressing onto UNILAD in 2019.