Ruby Howell, Mississippi Woman Caught On Video Allegedly Pulling Gun On Black Family, Charged With Misdemeanor

Ruby Howell — a Mississippi woman who was caught on video allegedly pulling a gun on an African American family who were having a picnic — has been arrested. Howell has been charged with a misdemeanor count of threatening exhibition of a weapon, The Starkville Daily News reports.

Howell, whose age has not been released, turned herself in to the Oktibbeha County Jail on Tuesday morning. The alleged incident, however, took place in late May.

As reported last week by The Inquisitr, Howell was seen allegedly pulling a gun on Jessica Richardson and her husband, Franklin Richardson, while the pair were attempting to have a picnic at a Starkville-area campground. In the video footage, Jessica seemingly admits that she was not sure if she was required to have a reservation — or to be a campground guest — in order to use the picnic table.

In a Facebook post, Richardson says that she and her husband had been seated for only a few minutes when a woman, apparently the wife of the campground manager, pulled up in a truck and started screaming at her. Richardson then claims that a “white lady” exited the truck, allegedly holding a gun.

Richardson captured parts of the incident on video, as seen below. Richardson can be heard trying to explain to the woman that all she had to do was calmly explain that reservations were required for using the picnic table. Richardson reiterated that pulling a gun wasn’t necessary. As Richardson talks to Howell, the latter appears to put the gun away.

https://www.facebook.com/100013086163475/videos/656134728166060/?t=0

Richardson further claims that after she returned to the picnic table, Howell came back — this time telling them to get out, using vulgar language to do so. That alleged incident does not appear to have been caught on video, however.

Days after Richardson posted her video, a spokesperson for Kampgrounds of America — which owns the Starkville campground at which this incident reportedly took place — confirmed via Bedford, Virginia’s WBLT-TV that Howell has been “relieved of her duties” at the campground.

This is scary… A white campground employee is fired after pulling a gun on a black couple looking for a picnic site @CNN https://t.co/JCFnoAGiHI #Mississippi #Starkville #OktibbehaCountyLake #Racism #KampgroundsofAmerica #KOA

— Michael Coscia (@mc528) May 30, 2019

Several things about this incident remain unclear. For example, it’s not known if the Richardson family notified the police about the incident, or if Oktibbeha County authorities opened a criminal case against Howell after this story went viral. It’s also unclear if authorities had made any attempt to arrest Howell before she turned herself in.

Howell posted a $500 bond shortly after being processed. It remains unclear, as of this writing, when her next court appearance will be.