22-Year-Old Who Attacked Black Teenager Denies Hate Crime Angle

A 22-year-old woman who attacked a black teenager who was allegedly trying to steal her phone back in December has not pleaded not guilty to the charges filed against her. She is facing two counts of unlawful imprisonment as a hate crime, aggravated harassment, and endangering the welfare of a child.

Dubbed as “Soho Karen” for that incident, Miya Ponsetto made headlines in December after allegedly attacking a black teen at a lobby of a Soho Hotel in New York City. She falsely accused the teenager of stealing her phone at that time.

Ponsetto entered a plea of not guilty on Wednesday during a virtual appearance at a Manhattan court. The legal counsel of the 22-year-old woman branded the charges as opportunistic and shameful.

"The charges alleged are a brazen and clear overreach of the intent of the statute," D'Emilia said. "In sum, they are absurd, and a perversion of our legal system."

It was on Dec. 26 when the incident happened. At that time, Ponsetto was spotted approaching jazz musician Keyon Harrold and his 14-year-old Keyon Jr. “Soho Karen” was accusing the boy of stealing her phone, tackling the teenager to get it from him. It would later be discovered that her phone would later be found at the hotel.

A video of the whole incident was captured by the father. Aside from that, the footage was captured by hotel surveillance cameras. Ponsetto was arrested on Jan. 7 outside their residence at Piru, California.

According to police sources, Ponsetto did not cooperate with authorities at the time. She had to be forcibly removed from her car after nearly slamming the driver's side door on a deputy from the Ventura County Sheriff's Office.

Ironically, Ponsetto sat down for an interview with CBS This Morning co-anchor Gayle King before she was taken into custody.

"I admit, I could have approached the situation differently, or maybe not yelled at him like that or made him feel ... inferior, or like I was hurting his feelings," Ponsetto stated.

In that same interview, Ponsetto also addresses the racism angle. She batted that she is Puerto Rican, suggesting that she is incapable of racism.

"I wasn't racial profiling whatsoever," she said. "I am Puerto Rican. I'm like, a woman of color. I'm Italian, Greek, Puerto Rican..."