"In late December, Ms. Ponsetto was caught on video tackling Keyon Harrold Jr., the 14-year-old son of a prominent jazz musician, in the lobby of a boutique hotel in SoHo."

"She had falsely accused him of stealing her cellphone, and can be heard yelling, 'No, I’m not letting him walk away with my phone!' The video, which garnered widespread consternation on social media, was yet another example of Black people in America being confronted with baseless accusations while simply going about their lives. It drew comparisons to an incident in May, in which a white woman called 911 to falsely claim that a Black bird-watcher in Central Park had threatened her life. (Ms. Ponsetto, her lawyer said, is of Puerto Rican and Vietnamese descent.)"

From "She Said a Black Teen Stole Her Phone. Now She Faces a Robbery Charge. The woman, Miya Ponsetto, was arrested in connection with the incident at a SoHo hotel, hours after recording a disastrous interview with Gayle King" (NYT).

This story would have "garnered" so much more attention — and, of course, "consternation" — if only Ms. Ponsetto had been white. The Times calls it "another example," but it's not really in the category for which examples are being... garnered. Ponsetto is, her lawyer says, of Puerto Rican and Vietnamese descent, and she's not even charged with a hate crime — because, according to the police, "she didn't say anything about that." 

Why is the charge robbery and not assault? Is there evidence that she knew the phone was not hers?

As for that interview with Gayle King, Ponsetto's lawyer says, "She went off script,. She decided to disregard my advice and just go on her own... She was prepared and guided. She apologized, but not in the way she should have. But she said so many other things that it almost blurred her message. It was so disrespectful." The lawyer called her client disrespectful? Am I reading that right?

 

In the TV interview, Ponsetto wears a cap that reads "Daddy" and says "I consider myself super sweet." The high point of the interview comes at 4:46 when Ponsetto lifts her hand, palm out, toward Gayle King and says "All right, Gayle. Enough." Now, that's not a crime, but it does show a young woman with unusual instincts, instincts also on view in the hotel video (which you can also see in the embedded clip). 

How does a 22-year-old woman acquire that orientation in the world? I'll hypothesize that it has something to do with the self-image "super sweet."