A San Francisco woman’s cannabis business is going up in smoke amid fallout over video of her appearing to call police on an 8–year–old Black girl selling bottled water outside a local apartment building on Saturday.
Alison Ettel, now famously known as “Permit Patty,” was recorded confronting the child and her mother, who she accused of “illegally selling water without a permit.” Afterward, Ettel claimed she was just “bluffing” and never called the cops, later insisting the incident wasn’t racially motivated. The damage had already been done, however.
Outrage over the incident has sent Ettel’s business partners running for the hills, according to The Washington Post. The company she runs, Treatwell Tinctures, sells marijuana-laced products for pets but her former partners no longer want any parts of it.
“As of today, Magnolia will no longer be carrying Treatwell Tinctures,” the Magnolia Oakland dispensary announced on Instagram. “After seeing this video of their CEO, calling the police on an 8-year-old entrepreneur selling water on a hot day, we decided without hesitation that we could no longer patronize her company.”
Women Grow, a collective encouraging female leadership in the cannabis industry, also distanced itself from “Permit Patty,” who it said hadn’t been part of its organization since 2016.
“Women Grow does not condone Ms. Ettel’s behavior and she is not welcome to participate in our events,” CEO Kristina Garcia wrote in a statement. “We’ve removed her photograph and prior presentations from our platforms, and support those businesses who now decline to carry her products or otherwise celebrate her brand.”
A message from our CEO Kristina Garcia. To see our code of conduct, please visit: https://womengrow.com/
Posted by Women Grow on Sunday, June 24, 2018
Ettel said fallout over the incident has left her feeling “horrible and heart-wrenched.” The drama unfolded Saturday after Ettel claimed the little girl and her mom, Erin Austin, had been making noise outside her building for hours as they peddled ice cold water to thirsty passersby near AT&T Park, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The mother-daughter duo was apparently trying to raise money for a trip to Disneyland.
In an interview with the newspaper, Ettel said she was “completely stressed out” by work and simply lost her temper after constant yelling by the girl and her mother. Rather than wait for building security to handle it, however, she confronted Austin, which escalated to an intense argument that played out on camera.
” … This woman don’t want to let a little girl sell some water; she be calling police on an 8-year-old little girl,” Austin says as she walks after Ettel, who tries to crouch down behind a stoop. “You can hide all you want; the whole world gon’ see ya, boo.”
“Yeah and um, illegally selling water without a permit?” Ettel is heard saying on the phone as she “pretends” to call the police.
Video of the incident quickly went viral, amassing nearly 1 million views in just a matter of hours. Ettel claims ever since her name was publicized on the internet, she’s received death threats and text messages with sexually violent content. She said she’s even had people try to get into her building to confront her, according to the Chronicle.
“It was wrong and I wish I could take it back,” she said, saying she wished she would’ve handled things differently. “Believe me, I wish I never had done that.”
The incident comes just a month after a similar case where a woman dubbed “BBQ Becky” called police on a group of Black friends for “illegally” barbecuing in an Oakland park.
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