{"id":432574,"date":"2026-10-20T01:42:07","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T01:42:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/432574\/"},"modified":"2026-10-20T01:42:07","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T01:42:07","slug":"florida-bar-examining-racist-dms-to-miami-football-player","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/432574\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida Bar examining racist DMs to Miami football player"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Miami<\/p>\n

Miami Hurricanes defensive end Damon Wilson II (10) defends against Central Michigan Chippewas quarterback Angel Flores (7) during the University of Miami\u2019s 52-3 rout at Hard Rock Stadium on Sept. 26, 2026.<\/p>\n

PHOTO BY AL DIAZ<\/p>\n

adiaz@miamiherald.com<\/p>\n

Instagram direct messages to a University of Miami football player that included rape imagery, violent slavery imagery, three uses of the N-word and two uses of a homophobic slur are under investigation by the Florida Bar.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because the DMs to Hurricanes defensive lineman Damon Wilson II came from the account of a Florida Bar employee.<\/p>\n

The Florida Bar is aware of messages that were possibly sent from an employee\u2019s social media account that contained inappropriate content, and we have started an internal investigation into this matter. https:\/\/t.co\/bSpNUo27Lw<\/p>\n

\u2014 The Florida Bar (@TheFlaBar) October 19, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Asked about the investigation and possible punitive action, a Florida Bar spokesperson wouldn\u2019t go beyond the organization\u2019s statement that an investigation was in progress but did confirm \u201cthe employee whose social media account was implicated is Kade McLendon.\u201d<\/p>\n

McLendon\u2019s Instagram account and his LinkedIn accounts were shut down Monday. Before that, however, several social media users took screenshots of his LinkedIn account that said he has been a computer technician at the Florida Bar since June 2024 and is a Florida State graduate. He could not be reached for comment Monday.<\/p>\n

Saturday night, the Hurricanes outlasted Florida State, 43-35, the double overtime game adding another epic episode to the rivalry.<\/p>\n

In the 12 messages that Wilson appeared to have displayed on his Instagram stories, Wilson was called a \u201ccotton picking\u201d N-word, told \u201cI hope my great grand daddy beat urs so hard\u201d and was referred to as \u201cfarming equipment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other messages wished painful rape upon Wilson because he \u201ccan\u2019t play ball\u201d and said \u201cI am going to rape, beat and kill ur family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilson transferred to UM this season from Missouri, where he\u2019d been a second team All-Southeastern Conference defensive lineman last season. He started his college career at Georgia after graduating from Venice High School.<\/p>\n

Miami Herald staff writer Jordan McPherson contributed reporting.<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Since 1989, David J. Neal\u2019s domain at the Miami Herald has expanded to include writing about Panthers (NHL and FIU), Dolphins, old school animation, food safety, fraud, naughty lawyers, bad doctors and all manner of breaking news. He drinks coladas whole. He does not work Indianapolis 500 Race Day.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Miami Hurricanes defensive end Damon Wilson II (10) defends against Central Michigan Chippewas quarterback Angel Flores (7) during…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":432575,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-432574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=432574"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432574\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/432575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=432574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=432574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=432574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}