Keaton Jones: Mother of bullied boy who went viral accused of racism after Facebook post emerges

People are accusing Kimberly Jones of hypocrisy

The mother of a boy who went viral for a tearful video about his middle-school bullies has been accused of racist behaviour.

Keaton Jones reached viral status this month for a moving video in which he tears up and declares: "People that are different don’t need to be criticised about it”. Keaton says he is being bullied by kids at school, who pour milk on his head and stuff ham in his clothes.

“They make fun of my nose,” he said in the video, which his mother, Kimberly, posted to Facebook. “They call me ugly. They say I have no friends.”

As the video racked up millions of views, celebrities from Justin Bieber to Katy Perry offered their sympathies. Actor Chris Evans invited Keaton and his mother to come to the Avengers premiere in Los Angeles next year. A GoFundMe account for the family raised nearly $60,000.

But the situation grew murky when several people claimed to have found evidence of offensive, possibly racist behaviour on Ms Jones’s Facebook account.

“That viral video of #KeatonJones talking about being bullied is heartbreaking, and I feel sympathetic towards that child,” tweeted media personality Tariq Nasheed. “But his mom, Kimberly on the other hand, is a suspected racist who makes very problematic posts bullying Black protesters.”

Mr Nasheed’s tweet was accompanied by several photos appearing to show members of the Jones family standing next to a Confederate flag. The Confederacy fought to preserve slavery in America during the Civil War.

The tweet also featured a screenshot of a Facebook post, allegedly written by Ms Jones, telling “butt hurt Americans” to stop complaining about “metaphorical, emotional, financial, or historical blood & brokenness”.

“If you aren’t bleeding, no bones are sticking out & you can breathe, STOP crying,” the post reads. “For the love, some folks clearly never picked a switch.”

Ms Jones has set her Facebook profile to private, meaning her posts and photos are not visible to the general public. But her daughter, Lakyn Jones, previously posted one of the aforementioned photos to her public Twitter account.

The photo, which is captioned “Merica,” shows Keaton holding an American flag next to another child holding a Confederate flag. Lakyn is posing with a gun.

This tweet from Keaton Jones's sister shows members of the Jones family posing with a Confederate flag (Twitter/Lakyn Jones)

The screenshots sparked a backlash on social media, leading some to accuse Ms Jones of hypocrisy.

“My heart goes out to anyone dealing with bullying, but wassup with the racist images on Keaton Jones' mom's facebook page? Wouldn't that kinda make her a bully too?” tweeted actor Slink Johnson.

“This doesn’t mean that the bullied kid should be bullied, but we should be aware of who we are centering. Again,” tweeted Danger & Eggs show runner Shadi Petosky.

Ms Jones has not discussed the photos publicly, and did not respond to The Independent’s request for comment. Shortly after the photos began circulating, however, Lakyn appeared to address the situation on Twitter.

“My family will continue to support each other,” she wrote. “You all can hate and tweet all you want but our faith cant be shaken.”