Ben Crump, Harrold family petition to arrest Miya Ponsetto reaches 100,000 signatures
Calls are growing to charge the 'SoHo Karen' in assault of teenager Keyon Harrold, Jr.
Miya Ponsetto is still free after she was captured on video attacking a 14-year-old Black teenager – but she won’t be for long if Ben Crump has anything to do with it.
During the Dec. 26th incident which has since gone viral, she went after both the teen Keyon Harrold Jr., and his father at the Arlo Hotel in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood. Now Crump and Harrold family’s have started a petition urging Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. to bring assault charges against the woman.
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“We hope this significant milestone – 100,000 people demanding justice for Keyon – gets the attention of D.A. Vance and prompts him to bring appropriate charges against Ms. Ponsetto, sending the message that Black people are also ‘innocent until proven guilty,” read the statement issued by the national civil rights attorney and the boy’s parents.
“Can you imagine how quickly charges would have been brought if the circumstances were reversed and a Black woman attacked a white child, claiming he had stolen her phone? It’s past time for law enforcement, hotel management, and the like to stop defaulting to the conclusion that a person is likely criminal because the color of their skin is Black.”
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As theGrio previously reported, Saturday, Ponsetto was questioned by a reporter for the first time since the encounter.
Although the incident took place in New York, West Coast activists say that since Ponsetto lives in Los Angeles they believe police in California should take her into custody. To their point, over the weekend, she was stopped by the media as she was going to a McDonald’s in California.
“Are you worried that the police are looking for you?” the reporter asked, referencing the outcry to the footage that shows her running at 14-year-old Keyon and grabbing him by the waist before tackling him to the ground. “Are you concerned about the warrant for your arrest? Why did you do it?”
“I’m actually 22, so I don’t know what the problem is here – and I’m also Puerto Rican,” she responded.
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