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The woman who was filmed attacking and falsely accusing the black son of a prominent jazz musician of stealing her phone defended herself in a savage interview on Friday, insisting that the race does not had nothing to do with the altercation.
In an interview with CBS “This Morning” host Gayle King, Miya Ponsetto, wearing a baseball cap with the word “Daddy” sewn on it, tripped while trying to explain herself while admitting that she would have could approach the situation differently.
“Maybe not yell at him like that, and make him feel like you know, kind of, uh, lower lane, making him feel like I’m like, hurting his feelings – that’s not my intention.” , Ponsetto said. “I consider myself to be super nice.”
“I sincerely apologize from the bottom of my heart that if I had made this son feel what I assaulted or hurt him,” she said.
King replied, “I know you saw the video, when you watch the video the reaction seems very extreme. It doesn’t seem like someone who is ‘super nice’.”
To that, Ponsetto asked, “How would you feel, if you were alone in New York and, you know, you’re going to be spending time with your family on vacation, and you lose the one thing that was stolen from you that? has all access to the only way to get home. “
Ponsetto admitted that she didn’t stop everyone in the lobby, but said she wanted to do her “part” while hotel management checked security footage.
Ponsetto added that the teenager’s father, Keyon Harrold, slammed her to the ground and pulled her hair while dragging her on the floor – NBC News was unable to corroborate his claims with investigators or the hotel where the incident took place.
New York Police said the father “had scratches on his hand.” No other injuries were reported.
When King asks her about the viral video and security camera footage that appears to show Ponsetto attacking Harrold Jr., Ponsetto only acknowledges that she approached the Harrold family.
“The footage shows me attacking his son, how attacking him? Yelling at him, OK, I’m sorry. Can we continue?” she said. “Basically I’m a 22 year old girl. I am, I’m not – racism – how does a girl accuse a man of a phone as a crime?”
King pushed Ponsetto further, claiming the video showed her attacking 14-year-old Keyon Harrold Jr., who did not have his phone. Tensions escalate, Ponsetto abruptly cutting off King and saying, “Alright, Gayle, that’s enough.”
California authorities forcibly arrested Ponsetto Thursday afternoon on a fugitive warrant in Piru, according to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office. A spokesperson for the sheriff’s office told NBC News on Thursday that Ponsetto refused to get out of the car and attempted to slam a car door on one of the deputies. Ponsetto’s charges weren’t immediately clear, but she awaits his extradition to New York.
Ponsetto was put in the national spotlight after Harrold posted a one-minute video of the Dec. 26 incident at the Arlo Soho hotel on social media. Security camera footage later revealed she was heading towards Harrold Jr.
In an interview Thursday, Sharon Ghatan, Ponsetto’s lawyer, dubbed Ponsetto’s mental health issues and said the incident was “not a race issue.”
On Tuesday, the lawyer confirmed that his client left his phone in an Uber. Ghatan said if the Uber driver had returned his phone 15 minutes earlier, the altercation would not have happened.
Ponsetto was charged with public and battery poisoning over an incident at a Beverly Hills hotel on February 28, court documents show. She was also arrested on May 28 for driving under the influence in Van Nuys, Calif., According to court documents.
A hearing for the charges related to the Beverly Hills incident was scheduled for this month, Ghatan said. In September, a judge at the Van Nuys West courthouse sentenced Ponsetto to three years of summary probation after pleading no challenge for driving under the influence.
Ghatan said she was unable to reach civil rights lawyer Ben Crump, who represents the Harrold family.
On Twitter Thursday, Crump accused Ponsetto of racial discrimination against Harrold and his son. He added that his actions were exacerbated by staff at the Arlo hotel, who “threw gasoline on the fire instead of stopping a racist attack on their own guests.”
In a statement Thursday, Harrold and his wife, Kat Rodriguez, said the altercation was not just an isolated act of racism, but revealed a broader system that allows institutions like Arlo Hotel to accept this type of behaviour.
“This is not an apology from someone who, until a few days ago, claimed to have done nothing wrong. Someone who targeted a 14-year-old black kid because of his son’s color, ”they said. “This is a system that tolerates and encourages racial profiling and holds black people guilty until proven innocent.”
They added that this should never have happened.
“We pray that it is not in vain and brings us even closer to life in a world where a 14 year old black child can have brunch with his father without risking being profiled, targeted, falsely accused and physically assaulted. , ” they said.
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