The aftermath of the Iowa City Pedestrian Mall shooting on April 19 has sparked a series of racist rhetoric online, stereotyping Black people, and particularly Black men, as violent. Alleged 17-year-old perpetrator, Damarian Marshawn Jones of Cedar Rapids, is Black, and is the Iowa City Police Department’s suspect for injuring five people following a fight.

Comments that have blamed the shooting on Black culture and dehumanized Black people on Instagram and X have created a hostile and hateful atmosphere, UI and community leaders say. In addition, racist materials have been distributed throughout Iowa City, calling for racial division.

Journalism and African American Studies Professor Venise Berry said the media plays a part in attaching negative stigmas of Black men as thugs or criminals to their everyday lives. Berry believes constant portrayals of Black men in this light make people perceive it to be normal.

Berry said the social media comments can reinforce negative stereotypes of Black people elsewhere.

She used a hypothetical example of an older white lady who lives in a small rural town in Iowa, chosen to jury duty for a defendant who is a Black male. The White lady who may not have Black friends or isn’t around many Black people may ignorantly and automatically attach the stigma to the defendant, which can be harmful.

“Once that mentality is perpetuated and then accepted through the media, it ends up in our criminal justice system, housing, and the educational system, where Black students are treated differently,” she said.

Berry acknowledged that those spewing the racist rhetoric do not apply their hatred to their own group. She believes that with the existing prejudice toward diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, policies, Black students feel as if they are not being welcomed into specific spaces.

Berry said the rhetoric is influenced by the broader political environment that has made racial topics more severe. The rhetoric is coming from the top down, Berry said, with the Iowa legislature passing several bills targeting DEI.

Despite the hate on social platforms, Berry encourages students to remember the individuals who fought and died to give marginalized groups a chance to vote, attend educational institutions, and not be treated poorly as motivation to keep moving forward.

“We’re in a diverse society, and there are communities that are different, but we’re all human beings who want the same thing. To have media that is dividing us is really sad,” she said. “Everybody has a right to live and love and be part of this, you know, grand experiment called America,”

UI fourth-year student Dominic Eastman said he felt horrified seeing the hateful comments and immediately thought of his friends and community. He wishes the university had handled the situation better.

“I would have liked to see a swifter response. The comments started happening almost right away, so they can’t say they didn’t know it was happening,” Eastman said. “Anyone resorting to racism is weak. They have some serious psychological problems that need to be resolved.”

Eastman believes racism is often used as a tool of deflection, and the people who made these racist remarks distract audiences from acknowledging that crimes can be committed by anyone.

“The ‘usual suspects’ comments made me laugh because, quite frankly, these aren’t the usual suspects. I think people should be aware that their digital footprint is real,” Eastman said.

He also noticed that comments were made from burner accounts, or alternative profiles that aren’t used as an individual’s main profile on social media, as well as him noticing UI students who endorsed the comments by liking.

RELATED: Sister of UI student shot on the Ped Mall starts GoFundMe

“What I don’t think people understand is when you like a racist comment, you are co-signing it. You are no different than the person or bot who typed it out and hit send, and I believe they should be held responsible as well,” he said. “I have seen so many familiar faces, in the likes from former residents of mine, to people I walk by every day now on the Pentacrest.”

UI Black Student Union President, Tae’Shaun Presswood, said he was saddened upon hearing about the tragedy, and that racist comments take away from the focus on the innocent people going through a life-threatening incident.

Presswood advises Black students to understand that they still have a place on campus.

“Don’t let anyone tell you that you don’t belong or that you can’t take up the space that you were meant to take up,” he said. “It’s easy to kind of retreat and close yourself off when you hear people say these things about you, but when you really dive into the history of our school or even your own history, you know that you deserve to be here just as much as anybody else.”

Like Eastman, Presswood witnessed individuals spewing racism from fake accounts and said that if they truly believed what they were saying was good, they wouldn’t need to disguise themselves.

“It’s easy to hide behind a fake account and say certain things that you wouldn’t normally say in person, because you know they’re not what you’re supposed to say, and you know the consequences of those actions,” he said.

Presswood thinks it’s common for stereotypes of certain demographics to be fueled on social media, but that people should take the time to research more on the ethnicities, cultures, and populations that are being portrayed negatively.

UI President Barbara Wilson released a statement in support of students’ well-being and safety after the shooting occurred. Presswood said that the university, in general, should address the racism that followed the shooting.

The UI Black Student Union issued a statement condemning both the shooting and racism, while Black leaders on campus continue to uplift the community.

“The university can at least say, you know, we see you, and we hear you,” Presswood said.  “It’s been proven that some UI students are involved in these comments and feeding into the negative energy. I think some action needs to be taken towards those students, but unfortunately, in the political environment today, that is not likely to happen.”

Johnson County Supervisor V Fixmer-Oraiz said systems have failed the Black community to the point where they do not feel supported in reference to the racist rhetoric surrounding the shooting.

“When you look at the decline in investments in education, affordable housing, and health care, and how our minimum wage is four times lower than it should be for a livable wage, it’s no wonder that our youth don’t feel supported and cared for and have a sense of belonging, much like we all want that,” they said.

According to the United Health Foundation, Iowa is ranked at number 16 in the country for economic hardship and valued at 45 out of 100 for crowded housing, dependency, education, income, poverty, and unemployment. Black households also had the lowest recorded median income in 2023 inflation-adjusted dollars at $43,759 compared to $75,007 for white households.

Fixmer-Oraiz said they have zero tolerance for racism, sexism, or transphobia.

“It’s heartbreaking, and of course, it kind of fills you with your own sense of rage, of like, how can this be in our community?” they said. “Yet, we are not in a post-race society. We have a lot of work to do, and what we need to start doing is listening to our youth, our young black people,  underestimated community members, and understanding how we can do better.”

Fixmer-Oraiz believes these racist incidents have heightened after the 2024 presidential election and has had their own experiences with racist comments on social media. Nonetheless, they believe that it is important to have open dialogue about the bigotry on social media, but said it can be hard at the same time.

“I just want to say to our community that Johnson County is a place that is welcoming, and I want people to feel safer here. And so I am committed, and I know my colleagues are committed to doing everything that we can to continue to make that a reality,” they said. “It is going to be a long road, and there are many barriers, but I will continue to fight for and care for our community in every possible way.”