A video went viral over the weekend that shows a California woman calling police on a eight-year-old girl selling water in front of her home to raise money to help her mom pay for a trip to Disneyland.
The incident happened Saturday outside of an apartment building in San Francisco, near AT&T Park where the Giants play. That’s when family members say he girl was approached by a woman the who has been dubbed on twitter as “Permit Patty.” The family says she called the police on the little girl for not having a permit.
The video posted to social media shows “Permit Patty” on the phone, trying to hide when she realizes she’s being recorded. Take a look at the video below.
So my little cousin was selling water and didn’t have a permit so this lady decided to call the cops on an 8 year old. #PermitPatty pic.twitter.com/SiL61pnAgl
— Raj 🌹 (@_ethiopiangold) June 23, 2018
The fifteen second video was posted by the girls mother and older cousin on Saturday and already has more than 9 million views.
According to CNN, Alison Ettel, a white woman who lives nearby, became annoyed by what she said was constant yelling about $2 water bottles for sale outside her window. So she confronted the girl’s mother and then appeared to call the police.
The girl’s mother, Erin Austin, told ABC7news, that the video was taken shortly after Ettel came outside and confronted them. “She comes out and demands the permit for my daughter. She said if we didn’t give it to her she’d call the cops,” she said. “So I said, ‘OK, call the cops.’ And she did.”
The incident quickly erupted with outrage over the woman’s actions, with #PermitPatty trending on twitter.
What kind of country do we live in where a white woman fortunate enough to make a living selling something as ridiculous as marijuana doggie treats calls the cops on a little black girl trying to be entrepreneurial herself by selling water? So effed up. #PermitPatty
— Adam Best (@adamcbest) June 24, 2018
A little 8 yr old girl wants to go to Disney. Her mother lost her job so she can’t make her daughter’s dream come true. A young future entrepreneur sees the profit in selling water on a hot day & wants to earn her way to Disney.A white privileged demon comes along… #permitpatty
— Fineapple 🍍🍍 (@brebekahh) June 25, 2018
It’s a sad day when a grown-ass woman has nothing better to do than look for reasons to call the police. Selling water illegally? Ohhhh, such a hard crime. She must feel really useful now. So sorry this happened to a child. 😔 #PermitPatty
— Angie Gregory (@angiegregory) June 24, 2018
Even celebrities have been putting in their two cents.
IIIIIIIII. CANNOT. Ma’am? MA’AM?!?! 🙄 This woman asks to speak to somebody’s manager on the daily. She permanently wears folks OUT https://t.co/2VXtHDBW5N
— Gabrielle Union (@itsgabrielleu) June 23, 2018
Ettel told Huffing Post that she only pretended to call the police after claiming the girl and her mother were making a lot of noise.
“They were screaming about what they were selling,” she said. “It was literally nonstop. It was every two seconds, ‘Come and buy my water.’ It was continuous and it wasn’t a soft voice, it was screaming.”
She admits the phone call was a “stupid” decision, but says she has been harassed and has received death threats.
