“Overzealous” legal backlash over the Carlee Russell kidnapping hoax came only because a Black woman was at the center of it, The Atlantic writer Jemele Hill tweeted. After it was found that Russell, a 24-year-old nursing student, had fabricated the story of her abduction, police officers filed two misdemeanor charges against the Alabama woman. State lawmakers are also seeking to increase the penalties for faking a kidnapping. Through her X (formerly known as Twitter) account, Hill called these efforts “overzealous” actions taken because of Russell’s race, claiming the same thing would not have happened if she was White.