The woman who was filmed attacking and falsely accusing a prominent jazz musician’s black son of stealing his phone defended himself in a wild interview on Friday, insisting that race had nothing to do with the fight.
In an interview with CBS host “This Morning” Gayle King, Miya Ponsetto, wearing a baseball cap with the word “Daddy” sewn on it, stumbled while trying to explain himself while admitting that he could have approached the situation differently.
“Maybe I didn’t yell at him like that, and make him feel, you know, some kind of, uh, inferior way, making him feel like I’m hurting his feelings – that’s not my intention,” said Ponsetto . “I consider myself a super sweet person.”
“I sincerely, from the bottom of my heart, apologize for making this child feel when I assaulted him or hurt his feelings,” she said.
King replied, “I know you saw the video, when you look at the video, the reaction seems very extreme. It doesn’t seem like someone ‘super cute’.”
To which Ponsetto asked, “How would you feel, if you were alone in New York and, you know, you’re going to spend time with your family over the holidays, and you lose the one thing that was stolen from you that was all access the only way you can get home. “
Ponsetto admitted that he did not stop everyone in the lobby, but said he wanted to do his “part” while the hotel management checked security images.
Ponsetto added that the teenager’s father, Keyon Harrold, allegedly threw her on the floor and pulled her hair while dragging her across the floor – NBC News was unable to corroborate her claims with investigators or the hotel where the incident occurred.
New York City police said the father “suffered a hand scratch.” No other injuries have been reported.
When King asks her about the viral video and security camera footage that appears to show Ponsetto attacking Harrold Jr., Ponsetto only acknowledges that she approached the Harrold family.
“The footage shows me attacking your son, attacking him how? Yelling at him, okay, I’m sorry. Can we move on?” she said. “Basically, I’m a 22-year-old girl. Am I, I don’t – racism – like a girl accusing a guy over the phone a crime?”
King put even more pressure on Ponsetto, saying the video showed her attacking 14-year-old Keyon Harrold Jr., who did not have his phone. Tensions mount, with Ponsetto interrupting King abruptly, saying, “Okay, Gayle, enough.”
California authorities forcibly arrested Ponsetto on Thursday afternoon on an escape warrant in Piru, according to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office. A spokesman for the sheriff’s office told NBC News on Thursday that Ponsetto refused to get out of the car and tried to slam the car door on one of the deputies. It was unclear what Ponsetto’s charges face, but she is awaiting extradition to New York.
Ponsetto was released into the national spotlight after Harrold posted a one-minute video of the December 26 incident at the Hotel Arlo Soho on social media. Security camera footage later revealed that it launched itself towards Harrold Jr.
In an interview on Thursday, Sharon Ghatan, Ponsetto’s lawyer, spoke about Ponsetto’s mental health problems and said the incident “was not about race”.
On Tuesday, the lawyer confirmed that his client left his phone in an Uber. Ghatan said that if the Uber driver returned her phone 15 minutes earlier, the altercation would not have happened.
Ponsetto was charged with public intoxication and assault in an incident at a Beverly Hills hotel on February 28, according to court documents. She was also arrested on May 28 for driving under the influence in Van Nuys, California, court documents show.
A hearing for the charges related to the Beverly Hills incident was scheduled for this month, Ghatan said. In September, a Van Nuys West court judge sentenced Ponsetto to three years of summary probation after she did not contest for drunk driving.
Ghatan said he was unable to contact civil rights lawyer Ben Crump, who is representing the Harrold family.
On Twitter Thursday, Crump accused Ponsetto of racial discrimination against Harrold and his son. He added that her actions were exacerbated by the Arlo Hotel team, who “threw gasoline on the fire instead of preventing a racist attack on their own guests”.
In a statement on Thursday, Harrold and his wife, Kat Rodriguez, said the fight was not just an isolated act of racism, but indicative of a larger system that allows institutions like the Arlo Hotel to accept such behavior.
“This is not an apology from someone who until a few days ago claimed that he had done nothing wrong. Someone who targeted a 14-year-old black child because of his son’s color, ”they said. “It’s about a system that tolerates and encourages racial discrimination and holds blacks guilty until their innocence is proven.”
They added that this should never have happened.
“We pray that it will not be in vain and that it will take us one step closer to living in a world where a 14 year old black child can enjoy brunch with his father without the threat of being traced, targeted, falsely accused and physically attacked, they said.