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Helena Duke, age 18, of Central Massachusetts, has told the story of how she publicly outed her mom on Twitter via video clips of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol Building to numerous national and local outlets including “Good Morning America,” “Rolling Stone,” and “Buzzfeed.”
Duke said, as a self-proclaimed “liberal lesbian” who had been kicked out of her family a number of times over her beliefs, she felt compelled to speak out about the violence. It wasn’t an easy decision, however.
“If I did nothing, I felt I was as bad as them,” Duke told “Good Morning America.”
The tweet that gained so much attention was a video of Duke’s mother, Therese Duke, apparently harassing a black woman at the riot.
Helena Duke captioned the video with “hi mom remember the time you told me I shouldn’t go to BLM protests bc they could get violent … this you?”
Therese Duke has experienced fallout from the revelation. After receiving complaints, UMass Memorial Health Care in Worcester said that she was “no longer a part of our organization.”
Helena Duke started a GoFundMe on Jan. 11 seeking to raise $150,000 to pay for her college education. Duke said she wants to be a lawyer and spend time in the Peace Corps.
“I want to make the world a better place I just need some help,” she said on the campaign page.
As of Wednesday, Jan. 13, people had donated more than $40,000 to Duke.
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