An Oakland business woman regrets her decision to call police on an 8-year-old child for selling bottled water. At least six business cut ties with Alison Ettel’s cannabis business after she was caught on video threatening to call police on Jordan Rodgers.
Jordan said she was selling water to raise funds for her first-ever trip to Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif.
The video of Ettel making a call to police went viral — as do other videos of white people calling police on Black people doing mundane activities.
Ettel was dubbed “Permit Patty” by the Internet after the video circulated on social media.
Ettel’s misguided bid for viral video fame ended badly for her cannabis store, Treatwell Tinctures, in Oakland. Ettel’s company sells marijuana treats for dogs.
“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,” said a spokesperson for cannabis store Magnolia in a statement on Tuesday.
The company added that while Treatwell was one of their best-selling products, “integrity is always before profits.”
“I completely regret that I handled that so poorly,” Ettel told the Huffington Post. She added that her action was not racially motivated.
“I completely regret that I handled that so poorly. It was completely stress-related, and I should have never confronted her. That was a mistake, a complete mistake.”
