More than 98,000 people signed an online petition calling for the arrest of “Soho Karen” Miya Ponsetto after his viral speech falsely accusing a black teenager of stealing his iPhone.
The petition, posted by Ben Crump, a prominent civil rights lawyer representing Keyon Harrold Jr.’s family, comes as requests for Manhattan prosecutors to indict Ponsetto in the December 26 incident at a Soho hotel grow .
“Keyon Harrold Jr. will live with this trauma for the rest of his life, the weight of racism on the shoulders of another generation,” wrote Crump online. “He deserves better than this treatment!”
The petition seeks 200,000 signatures.
Protesters this weekend also met in front of a police station in Los Angeles, where Ponsetto is hiding, calling for his arrest in New York because of 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 her by an Uber driver.
During the meeting, Ponsetto is seen fighting with the teenager.
The older Harrold posted the video on his Instagram page.
Last week, NYPD officials said the case, originally classified as harassment, could be updated based on footage from the meeting, which shows Ponsetto grabbing the teenager’s leg and trying to attack him.
Crump’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.