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(CNN) Prosecutors in New York City are investigating an incident in which a jazz musician said his 14-year-old son was attacked by a woman who falsely accused him of taking her iPhone.
Trumpeter Keyon Harrold posted a video taken with his phone that shows the woman making claims against his son on Saturday at the Arlo SoHo boutique hotel.
Harrold and his son are Black and were guests at the hotel in lower Manhattan. The ethnicity of the woman in the video is not clear, although New York police described her as White.
His video of the encounter has been widely shared on social media, prompting an outcry about what many felt was yet another incident of racial profiling against Black men. The hotel apologized and called the woman’s behavior a “baseless accusation, prejudice and assault against an innocent guest.”
The prominent jazz trumpeter spoke Wednesday at a news conference and rally near the steps of New York’s City Hall, where he was accompanied by civil rights attorney Ben Crump and the Rev. Al Sharpton. He also followed a rendition of “America the Beautiful” with “We Shall Overcome” in the late December chill.
“If I wasn’t who I was … this wouldn’t even be an issue,” he said before a meeting with the district attorney that was — according to Crump — arranged by Sharpton.
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Article URL : https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/30/us/keyon-harrold-iphone-incident-new-york/index.html