"I would never harm anybody"- Alaila Everett breaks down in tears as she holds a rally after criticism for baton attack

Alaila Everett broke down into tears while holding a rally in front of her high school after receiving criticism for the recent baton attack. This incident took place at the VHSL Class 3 State Indoor Championships in Virginia on March 4.

The athlete was competing in the 4x200m relay where she hit Brookeville High School's Kaelen Tucker in the head with her baton. The video of this incident started doing rounds on the internet, gathering massive criticism for Everett. However, the athlete has repeatedly said the hit wasn't intentional.

Everett held a rally outside of her high school in Virginia after getting charged with assault and addressed the criticism she has been receiving. She broke down into tears while talking about the incident. She also had the support of the Portsmouth NAACP, who shared a statement in favor of the athlete, saying she would never hit her opponent purposely.

Thanking everyone who showed up at the rally, Alaila Everett said (via Collin Rugg's X handle):

"Thank you all for supporting me. Nobody else wanted to hear my story except for people that know me and people that know, I would never do anything like that. I would never harm anybody. I'm not a fighter, I'm not even confrontational, I wouldn't even do that on purpose, and I thank y'all for believing in me. I love y'all."

Alaila Everett defends herself after receiving backlash on the track incident

The track incident in which Alaila Everett hit Kaelen Tucker with the baton took place on March 4. Since this, the athlete has faced severe backlash. The athlete was seen crying in a video shared on X. She said the incident happened by mistake.

Claiming that she lost her balance, Everett said it wasn't intentional and revealed that she has been getting death threats on social media.

“They are assuming my character, calling me ‘ghetto’ and racial slurs, death threats… all of this off of a nine-second video. I have plenty of people in my corner — teachers offering me a place to stay in their classroom if things get overwhelming, letting me stay in the gym, or even go to the principal’s office if it’s overwhelming. My community knows my character. They know I’m not like that… that it was an accident,” Alaila Everett told Abc News (via nypost.com).

Alaila Everett is presently a senior at I.C. Norcom High School, and while she was representing her school during the incident, they were disqualified from the event.