0
0
A US woman who wrongly accused a black teenager of taking her phone at a hotel in ny City last year has been charged with a hate crime.
Video footage showed 22-year-old Miya Ponsetto chasing and tackling the 14-year-old after accusing him of theft. Her phone was later found during a taxi.
In addition to the charge of unlawful imprisonment as a hate crime, she has been charged with aggravated harassment and endangering the welfare of a toddler .
She has pleaded acquitted .
The incident happened in December within the lobby of the Arlo Hotel in Manhattan. Footage of it went viral after it had been posted online by Grammy award-winning trumpeter Keyon Harrold – the daddy of the boy Ms Ponsetto falsely accused.
At the time, Mr Harrold said the incident had “traumatised” his son, Keyon Harrold Jr.
Keyon’s family and legal team welcomed the fees at a news conference on Wednesday.
Family lawyer Ben Crump said “God knows what would have happened” if Keyon’s father wasn’t there.
In an interview in January, Ms Ponsetto told CBS: “I wasn’t racism whatsoever”.
“I’m Puerto Rican . I’m, like, a lady of colour,” she said.
Ms Ponsetto’s lawyer, Paul D’Emilia, called the fees “absurd, and a perversion of our legal system”.
Average Rating