NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- The parents of a Black teen who was falsely accused of stealing a woman’s phone at a hotel in SoHo are calling for a boycott against the chain.
Travelers should boycott the Arlo Hotel in Manhattan, as well as other hotels owned by its parent company, Quadrum Global, Keyon Harrold Sr. and his wife Kat Rodriguez said at a press conference on Monday.
The hotel’s employees “sided with [Miya Ponsetto] right away,” Rodriguez said, according to the Daily News.
“When Arlo SoHo hotel sided with her and asked my son, a patron of the hotel, to show his phone to the manager, they violated my son’s rights,” Rodriguez said. “This is why this is a racial issue. Because they questioned him but did not question her.”
The Rev. Al Sharpton, who joined the couple at the press conference, called for “mass checkouts” from the hotel, the outlet reported.
“If we do not have this family made whole by what the Arlo Hotel and the owners of the Arlo Hotel, Quadrum, does by next week, we will begin, since we’re a national organization, to put people in front of their hotels,” he said. “Show your stand against racism by checking out.”
Ponsetto, who has been dubbed “SoHo Karen,” was arrested last week. Police say she attacked Harrold and Rodriguez’ son, Keyon Harrold Jr., inside the Arlo Hotel after falsely accusing him of stealing her iPhone.
In a statement released Monday, Arlo Hotel said it was “deeply disheartened about the recent incident of baseless accusation, prejudice and assault against an innocent guest of Arlo Hotel.”
“In investigating the incident further, we’ve learned that the manager on duty promptly called the police regarding the woman’s conduct and that hotel security intervened to prevent further violence; still, more could have been done to de-escalate the dispute,” the hotel said.
“No Arlo guest — or any person — should be subject to this kind of behavior. We want to apologize to Mr. Harrold and his son for this inexcusable experience, and have reached out to them directly to express our sincere regret and to offer help in dealing with this traumatic event,” the hotel added. “We are committed to making sure this never happens again at any of our hotels.”