NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – An angry crowd gathered at City Hall Park on Wednesday to support the family of Grammy-winning musician, Keyon Harrold.
They met to report the racial profile and false accusations that took the family to the news after her son was accused by an unidentified woman of stealing his cell phone at a SoHo hotel on Saturday, reported Christina Fan of CBS2.
The Harrold family demanded accountability, not only from the woman involved, but also from the manager of the Arlo Hotel, where Harrold and his 14-year-old son were staying.
MORE: Black teenager falsely accused of stealing cell phone at New York hotel says: ‘I’m still a little shocked’
“The racial profile that Keyon Harrold documented in that cell phone video, if not held accountable, leads to Andre Hill’s racial profile being killed. This leads to Ahmaud Arbery’s racial profile for running while he was black, ”said lawyer Benjamin Crump.
“It was so crazy for me, I thought it was a joke at first. That’s the reason why I took my phone out because I couldn’t believe it was happening, ”said Harrold.
The outrage came in response to the images captured by the boy’s father inside the hotel lobby. The unidentified woman is heard accusing Keyon Harrold Jr. of stealing her cell phone.
“This is my phone,” says Harrold Jr ..
“You don’t need to explain anything to her,” adds Harrold Sr.
“Take the case. This is mine, literally. Give it back, please! ”A woman wearing a mask says.
“Are you kidding me? Do you think there is only one iPhone made in the world?” Harrold Sr. says.
“Then show me, then show me,” she says.
“No, go ahead,” says Harrold Sr ..
A person who identified himself as the manager approaches the teenager. Harrold Sr. said the woman not only scratched him, but also grabbed his son during the alleged attack.
“This culture of implicit prejudice that so many people have needs to stop,” said Harrold Senior.
Shortly after the incident, an Uber driver found the woman’s phone number in his car and returned it to the hotel.
Detectives have positively identified the woman by name as a resident of California and believe she is still in the New York area and is looking for her.
Criminal charges are being considered, from assault to attempted theft, Fan said.
“It breaks my heart that this is happening to our son,” said mother Kat Rodriguez. “This incident could have been prevented in many ways. The hotel manager, management and security had plenty of time to ease the situation before you had a chance to assault our son.
“When the manager, Chad Nathan, asked my son for the phone, he authorized the woman to assault my son and was equally guilty,” added Rodriguez.
In a statement, Arlo Hotel said it was deeply discouraged by what happened and pledged to ensure that something like this never happens again.
The family said it is publicly struggling to ensure that other children are not subjected to the same type of racial discrimination.
“We should all have equal rights, but the reality is that we don’t. So, yes, this is a question of racial injustice, ”said Rodriguez.
“Hopefully, the police report will be released because we know that if the roles were reversed, no one would try to protect Keyon’s identity,” said Crump.
The Harrold family met with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office on Wednesday.
Christina Fan from CBS2 contributed to this report
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