The girl on the middle of the viral brick assault that sparked social media discourse is now dealing with fees months after the incident.
In September, Roda Osman, dubbed on-line as “Brick Woman,” made a video saying a person struck her within the face with a brick as a result of she didn’t need to give him her telephone quantity exterior a membership in Houston, Texas. The assault left her with a visual bump on her cheek, and he or she known as out the opposite males within the space for not intervening.
“This man simply hit me within the face with a brick, and all these Black males simply watched, they usually don’t give a f**ok,” Osman mentioned.
“What would you like us to do?” one of many males requested.
“I would like y’all to be a person and do one thing,” she responded.
The Instagram dwell of her response instantly circulated on social media platforms, together with TikTok and X, also called Twitter. As well as, a now-deleted GoFundMe for the 33-year-old titled “Assist Roda Get better” raised almost $43,000 inside weeks. Officers now declare that she used a bogus story to gather hundreds of donations, native information reported.
“GoFundMe has zero tolerance for the misuse of our platform and cooperates with legislation enforcement investigations of these accused of wrongdoing,” a spokesperson instructed KPRC-TV in an announcement. “The fundraiser has been faraway from the platform, all donors have been refunded, and Roda Osman has been banned from utilizing the platform for any future fundraisers.”
Police mentioned that Osman’s account was not constant throughout their investigation. In the course of the preliminary interplay with responding officers on Sept. 3, she caught with the unique story that she was attacked after rejecting the person.
She knowledgeable them that the suspect might have been her Uber driver, whom she accused of being linked to human trafficking and tried to kidnap her, in line with charging paperwork obtained by the outlet. Her pal, who was visiting from out of city, was along with her throughout the incident.
Days later, investigators tried to observe up with Osman however contacted her pal as a substitute. She notably instructed them off the file that she didn’t suppose Osman was attacked with a brick.
When police acquired in contact with Osman through telephone on Sept. 19, she claimed she determined to name an Uber as she and her pal have been leaving a lounge that evening. When the automobile, described as a dark-colored sedan, rolled up, she assumed it was her driver. Whereas inside, she alleged a person — recognized as Olan Douglas — was the one who hit her with the brick.
Nevertheless, police mentioned Osman saved altering her assertion about the place the assault occurred and that she hung up on an officer throughout the dialogue. Police pulled safety footage from the world the subsequent day and claimed the occasions didn’t align along with her report.
Within the video, Osman, her pal, and Douglas entered a lounge and left minutes later. They frolicked close to a white Maserati with one other man and mingled earlier than getting within the automobile. When the three acquired out of the automobile, Osman and Douglas acquired right into a confrontation. That’s when police alleged he hit her within the face with a water bottle. Prosecutors say she appeared to have initiated the battle.
“They acquired right into a automobile, they each acquired out of the automobile, and the defendant slapped the male, who then responded by slapping her again,” Keith Houston of the Harris County District Lawyer’s Workplace mentioned to the information station. “He did have a water bottle in his hand. And we expect that’s what left the mark on her, on her face. Nevertheless it was mutual fight.”
In keeping with KPRC-TV, police acquired a tip from a psychological well being advocate and content material creator, Daphne Sutton, who instructed them that Osman’s GoFundMe was fraudulent and that she pulled an identical stunt in 2020.
Sutton mentioned that Osman created a web page claiming {that a} Black safety guard hit her in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and requested $5,000 to assist along with her bills. Native police instructed Houston detectives that they hadn’t acquired a report associated to that incident.
Osman was charged with felony theft by deception however has not been taken into custody. She didn’t instantly reply to Atlanta Black Star’s request for touch upon Thursday. However she did deal with the scenario on social media.
“The violence that I’ve f***ing suffered since Sept. 3 is simply unbelievable. They tried to depart me for lifeless, however I’m nonetheless right here, and I do know this can be a worthy trigger to struggle for,” she mentioned on her Instagram story on Wednesday. “I’ve actual methods to generate profits. I don’t must get a GoFundMe for cash.”
“HPD: Assaulting a Black lady. Not a criminal offense,” she wrote in a follow-up publish on Thursday morning. “HPD Once more: Not remembering each single element appropriately after being hit over the top at the hours of darkness…Felony! Make it make sense! Y’all are bizarre and must be outraged.”
