Police Say They’ve Identified and Will File Charges Against Karen Who Attacked Black Teen on False Accusations of Phone Theft

The NYPD is planning to lay assault charges against the woman captured on camera over the holiday weekend aggressively going after the 14-year-old son of jazz musician Keyon Harrold at a hotel in New York on the false accusation that he stole her phone. That is if the police are able to locate her. The NYPD told Gothamist that they have “positively identified” the woman in question and are now trying to find her, but will not release her name publicly. Over the weekend, Harrold posted a video showing the woman belligerently screaming at him and his son in the lobby of the Arlo Hotel in Soho, claiming that the teenager had her phone. Her phone was later found in an Uber but not before she scratched the musician and tackled his son, said Harrold. (…) Though the woman was not a guest at the hotel where Harrold and his son were staying and appeared to have no other justification for accusing the teenager of theft other than the fact that he was in possession of an iPhone and melanated skin, the NYPD says they are not considering racial bias charges in the incident. The Harrold family is now being represented by civil rights lawyer Ben Crump, who has launched a petition calling for the Manhattan district attorney to file charges of assault and battery against the unidentified woman. The family is set to meet with the DA today. They are also calling for a civil rights investigation into the hotel where the incident took place. The video of the altercation shows a hotel manager demanding that Harrold’s son hand over his phone in response to the woman’s claim that it was hers.

via theroot: Police Say They’ve Identified and Will File Charges Against Karen Who Attacked Black Teen on False Accusations of Phone Theft