The NAACP is rallying around a Virginia high school track star at the center of a viral-video controversy and on the receiving end of criminal charges after she smashed a competitor in the head with a baton in the middle of a state-championship 4x200-meter relay race.  

In videos that most observers find damning, Alaila Everett, a senior at I.C. Norcom High School in Portsmouth, is seen swinging her baton into the back of the head of Kaelen Tucker, a junior at Brookville High School. Reeling from the pain, Tucker grabs her head and staggers to the ground alongside the track at Liberty University in Lynchburg. Everett proceeds to awkwardly flail her baton-arm. An attorney and former multi-sport, standout athlete who reviewed the footage for ZeroHedge said Everett's follow-on motions look like theatrics meant to portray the head-blow as an accident, rather than an attack springing from a loss of impulse control as Tucker overtook her. 

Everett and her squad were immediately disqualified from the championship competition, while Tucker was diagnosed with a concussion and possible skull fracture. In TV interviews after the incident, Everett admitted the act "looked purposeful," but said the hammer-blow to Tucker's head was an accident caused by the baton catching on Tucker's clothing, which supposedly caused Everett to lose her balance. "I know my intentions, and I would never hit somebody on purpose." Not satisfied to merely proclaim herself innocent, Everett also cast herself as a victim: "Everybody has feelings. So, you're physically hurt, but you're not thinking of my mental, right?" 

Feelings are one thing; facts are another -- and this video from second angle appeared to conclusively torpedo Everett's claim of innocence:  

Speaking of feelings, Tucker and her mother say neither Everett nor Everett's coaching staff made any effort to check on her well-being or reach out afterwards. Asked what she would like to communicate to Everett, Tucker said, "Why did you do it, and why haven't you apologized yet?"

After video of the incident went viral, Portsmouth NAACP issued a statement declaring Everett innocent:

“Alaila is NOT AN ATTACKER and media headlines that allude towards that in any way is shameful. We understand the sensitivity of the circumstances for both athletes and their families involved but this narrative must not go unaddressed."

Contrary to the NAACP's assertion, most observers concluded Everett was indeed an "attacker" -- including  Lynchburg Commonwealth prosecutors, who filed a misdemeanor charge of assault and battery against her on Wednesday. The next day, Everett held a small rally outside her high school in Portsmouth, which is across the Elizabeth River from Norfolk. Crying again, she reiterated her increasingly-rejected claim of innocence and victimhood. "There’s nobody else who wanted to hear my story except for people that know me and people that know I would never do anything like that."  

“It bothered me to my heart to see how the whole world was dragging this young lady, dragging her character based on what they thought they saw," local "community activist" Germain Green Green told the gathering. "I just wanted to step up, speak out, and bring unity and let this young lady know that the city of Portsmouth has her back.”

After meeting with prosecutors, Portsmouth NAACP's James Boyd told WAVY that "the criminal justice system should not be used in this situation, and for charges of assault and battery to be levied against her, you have to prove her intent and maliciousness, and those things are not present here.”

Having seen all the angles, who are you going to believe -- Everett and the NAACP or your lying eyes?