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More than 98,000 people have signed an online petition calling for the arrest of “Soho Karen” Miya Ponsetto after her viral rant falsely accusing a black teenage girl of stealing her iPhone.
The petition, released by Ben Crump, a prominent civil rights lawyer representing the family of Keyon Harrold Jr., comes as calls mount for Manhattan prosecutors to indict Ponsetto in the Dec. 26 incident at a hotel in Soho.
“Keyon Harrold Jr. will live with this trauma for life, the weight of racism on the shoulders of another generation,” Crump wrote online. “He deserves better than this treatment!”
The petition asks for 200,000 signatures.
Protesters over the weekend also gathered outside a police station in Los Angeles, where Ponsetto is now lying, calling for his arrest in New York City following the incident.
Harrold, the 14-year-old son of jazz trumpeter Keyon Harrold Sr., was with his father at the Arlo Hotel when Ponsetto approached him and accused him of stealing his iPhone – which was later returned to him by an Uber driver.
During the encounter, Ponsetto is seen arguing with the teenager.
Elder Harrold posted the video on his Instagram page.
Last week, NYPD officials said the case, initially classified as harassment, could be improved based on footage from the encounter, which shows Ponsetto grabbing the teenager’s leg and attempting to attack him.
Crump’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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