Video of a woman allegedly calling the police on a young girl who was selling water bottles in San Francisco across from the AT&T stadium Friday is going viral.
The child's mother, Erin Austin, posted the video on her Instagram account. In it, she follows a woman named Alison Ettel according to Huffington Post and Sfgate.com, who is holding a phone to her ear.
Austin told All the Moms she recently lost her job and her daughter Jordan was trying to raise money because she wanted to go to Disneyland.
Jordan was selling the water bottles outside the family's apartment building, which is across the street from AT&T Stadium, where the Giants were playing that day, Austin said.
Caught off guard when Ettel approached 8-year-old Jordan for a permit, Austin said she intervened.
When Ettel began calling the police, Austin said she pulled out her phone to video.
"This woman don't wanna let a little girl sell some water," Austin can be heard saying. "She calling the police on an 8-year-old little girl."
Ettel then ducks behind a brick structure, appearing to hide.
Austin follows her with the camera, telling her the whole world is going to see her.
Ettel says the little girl is "illegally selling water without a permit." It's unclear whether she's speaking to the cops or to Austin.
"On my property," Austin says.
"It's not your property," Ettel responds before the video ends.
Ettel: It was about the noise, not race
In an interview with Huffington Post, Ettel said calling the police had no "racial component" to it and that it was about Austin "screaming."
She also said she didn't actually call police but was "pretending."
All the Moms reached out to the San Francisco police but did not immediately hear back. Contact with Ettel was also attempted unsuccessfully.
Ettel told the Post she was working in her home office with the windows open but chose not to close them because it would've been too hot. It wouldn't have drowned out the noise either, she said.
“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.”
#PermitPatty trends on Twitter
In Erin Austin's video caption, she asked people to make the woman go viral under the hashtag "#permitpatty."
At the time of publishing, the video had more than 660,000 views and #PermitPatty was trending on Twitter.
Austin's cousin, Raje Lee, who posted about the incident on Twitter said her cousin was gifted four tickets to Disneyland by a man who heard about the story.
She posted a video to Twitter of her cousin's response:
Austin said she was "overwhelmed" by the positivity and support her family has received. She said she, Jordan, her son, Joshua, and Lee would be taking the trip.
When asked about Ettel telling Huffington Post she felt bad about the situation, Austin said she didn't accept any apology.
"She did it to herself," she said.