Her make-up free, shellshocked face was beamed into tens of millions of homes across America this week as Destiny Jackson recounted a horrifying encounter with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The 26-year-old mother-of-six told CNN that her baby son was tear-gassed after she and her husband Shawn found themselves trapped in an anti-ICE protest in Minneapolis while driving home from their older son’s basketball game.
An altered version of events was offered to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and Associated Press, with Jackson claiming her family was injured after she stopped to check on her mother, who had been attending the January 14 protest.
Jackson told the AP she had tried to persuade her mother to head home and insisted she did not take part in the protest, saying: ‘I was just trying to get her to go home. I’ve only seen these things on TV. Some end well, some don’t.’
Her harrowing tales shocked the nation – and led to a GoFundMe fundraising page which has raised over $173,000 as of Thursday afternoon.
But newly-unearthed video shows Jackson enjoying the protest for at least 40 minutes before her family’s car was tear-gassed.
Her distinctive cross-shaped face tattoo visible, Jackson was even filmed dancing alongside fellow protestors.
She told a citizen journalist who was filming: ‘We gonna kill these motherf*******.’
And coming from Jackson, that might not be an idle threat.
She was charged with second-degree murder in 2019 after luring 21-year-old Malik Smith to his death by pretending to be looking to buy marijuana from him when he was ambushed by two men.
Despite claiming to other outlets that she only left her vehicle to coax a woman away from the protest, the Daily Mail has uncovered footage showing Jackson calling for ICE agents to be killed
An analysis found Jackson remained at the scene for around 40 minutes before agents starting letting off tear gas
Jackson’s friend James Moore then shot Smith dead. Moore is serving a 30-year prison sentence for the killing.
Jackson – known then as Destiny Bradshaw – later struck a plea deal which saw her admit aiding an offender and being an accomplice after the fact.
She served just 28 days in a county jail and was placed on a supervised probation order for five years which is to run out later this year.
She was also hit with a restitution order of $3,759 and applied to change her surname to Jackson in 2024.
Jackson is now back in the thick of the action on the streets of Minneapolis.
Last week’s protests erupted after an undocumented migrant tried to flee what the Department of Homeland Security called a ‘targeted traffic stop.’
The unidentified man ended up crashing his car and was shot in the leg during an ensuing scuffle with a federal officer.
Despite the horror unfolding a few feet away from her, Jackson appeared to treat the incident like a night on the town and laughed with female friends who puffed on vapes.
There was no sign of any of her children during the 40 minute clip, while she and Shawn soaked up the chaotic atmosphere.
Her dancing at the protest goes against what she told CNN in a sit-down interview over the weekend, claiming she spent 30 minutes trying to convince a friend to go home
Her husband Shawn, pictured here, was also visible amongst the protestors at the scene
The couple, who share six children together, are seen here speaking with another outlet over the weekend after the ordeal
Eventually, tensions boiled over.
Federal officers began letting off tear gas, with Jackson then keen to leave the scene.
‘An ICE agent, one of them like yells in my window like, “get the F out of here.” And my husbands like, “We’re trying,”‘ Jackson told CNN.
Jackson said she warned her husband to be careful when maneuvering the car.
‘We’ve seen what happened to Renee [Good],’ she added, referring to the January 7 killing of a 37-year-old Minneapolis mother as she tried to drive away from an ICE agent.
Jackson told AP that the tear gas canister was rolled under her car just as she thought it was safe to leave the area.
A loud bang erupted, the car’s air bags were deployed and the vehicle filled with the pain-inducing smog.
Jackson said her children began crying and screaming that they couldn’t breathe and rushed to open the doors.
Video showed Jackson screaming for a wet towel as she was given her unresponsive infant mouth-to-mouth as bystanders poured milk over her other children’s eyes.
Tear gas flooded the SUV of the Jackson family on Wednesday and left several of their six children hospitalized, including their six-month-old son, seen here
The family claimed in an online fundraising page, that has since raised over $170,000, that they were ‘innocent bystanders’
In a post to her Facebook, which still uses her old surname, Jackson shot down critics who questioned her behavior
According to the fire department, the six-month-old boy was breathing and stable but in serious condition before being taken to hospital.
Jackson said she, her husband and three of their children received treatment at hospital, including their infant son, a seven-year-old and an eleven-year-old.
The Daily Mail contacted Jackson and GoFundMe for comment.
Writing on a Facebook profile that still uses her old surname, Jackson shot down critics who questioned her behavior.
‘Everybody thinks they know something,’ Jackson said.
‘We had just left our kids basketball game, stopped at our neighborhood grocery store and were headed home.
‘We stopped & asked questions to get someone to shed light on the situation. I seen my mom who is congestive heart failure out there protesting, we were trying to get her to go home so that nothing would happen to her.
‘In the process something happened to us. Just because we shared a few words with ppl who were out there reporting doesn’t make us bad parents.
‘We’re trying to leave we were in the car with our kids we were driving but ppl were in the way ughhh I wished yall would just shut up.
‘Still what happen to me and my family were unacceptable,’ she concluded.
