አንዳንድ ተቃዋሚ ሰልፈኞች የኦሮሞ ተወላጆችን በግልፅ በፀያፍ ቃላት ሲጠሯቸው የነበረ ቢሆንም እነዚህ ተቃውሞዎች በትክክልም በኢትዮጵያ ባለስልጣናት መዘጋጀታቸውን እና በገንዘብ መደገፋቸውን የሚያሳይ ማስረጃ የለም።
Some people did openly hurl bigoted slurs used to refer to an individual of Oromo ancestry during the protests, but there is no evidence to suggest that these rallies were in fact organized and funded by Ethiopian authorities.