Prior Lake Father Calls Out Teen Daughter's Bullies Online
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A Prior Lake father is taking a unique approach to fight back against the family he says bullied his 14-year-old girl.
He's calling them out on YouTube by showing an offensive video sent to his African-American daughter. (Warning: The video contains strong language).
Brad Knudson posted the video to show people how his daughter was being bullied with racist messages via Snapchat. The YouTube video he made late Monday already has over 58,000 views.
Dee Dee Knudson is the youngest of five siblings. Her parents adopted her 11 years ago, and she's grown into a devoted volleyball player and a bit of a daddy's girl.
"This is just one of the kindest girls I've ever met, and so that's another reason why it hurts so bad," Brad said.
In the middle of his work day, he sat down to explain that pain to WCCO, just one day after trying to tell the world.
He made a YouTube video, replaying the Snapchat that was sent to his daughter where two students curse and call her the n-word repeatedly.
"You're a slut, such a slut, n----r, you is a fat a-- b---h, yes you are," the students in the Snapchat said.
Knudson filed a police report and reached out to the ninth graders' parents. He says after a heated discussion, the children's father left a message where he also using the n-word
"Tides have turned, huh? I guess you're a n----r lover," the father said.
Knudson says the father explained to him that he used the n-word all the time when he was growing up -- and he uses the word all the time with his own family.
He says it was the words directed at his daughter that stung the most.
"On the outside I acted like it didn't affect me, and I just brushed it off and, you know, pretended life was different at the moment," Dee Dee said. "But on the inside I was kind of crying."
So what was it that made Brad take to the Internet? He says he felt it was a last resort.
"I was afraid that if I don't get this out, if I don't get people to understand what's going on, especially with this individual, that my daughter is not going to say anything to me and I'm gonna find her someday hanging in the bedroom," Brad said.
Dee Dee says she hopes the situation is a wake-up call to others.
"I just hope people understand how much racism effects people," Dee Dee said.
She also thanks her dad, like thousands of others who have viewed his YouTube video.
"I just refuse to let her go through stuff like that, there's no way," Brad said. "I won't do it."
Snapchats are typically deleted as soon as they're watched. Brad says Dee Dee had already received three similar messages, and he told her that if she got any more that she should come to him before she opened it. He then recorded the Snapchat with his own phone.
Although Knudson did file a police report, he's hoping charges aren't actually filed. He says he and his wife, Wendy, have decided to start a twice-monthly forum in Prior Lake to discuss race.
We learned late Wednesday afternoon that the father Knudson called out in that video has been let go from his job.
Knudson told WCCO that is not what he wanted to happen.
If you want to help the Knudsons' cause, email Wendy Knudson here.