Alison Ettel — who has been given the moniker “Permit Patty” — let the waterworks flow this morning on “Today” after becoming infamous for a viral video of her allegedly calling the cops on an 8-year-old girl for selling water bottles in front of her San Francisco apartment.
The video was filmed by the 8-year-old’s mother, Erin Austin, and quickly turned Ettel into a villain online.
Ettel said that she approached the mother of the 8-year-old and politely asked them to keep the noise down because she was trying to work with her apartment window open on a hot day.
“I tried to be polite, but I was stern,” Ettel said. She says since the incident went viral, she has received “all kinds threats, horrible images and death threats.”
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The girl’s mother, Erin Austin, told “Today” that Ettel never asked them to quiet down but immediately demanded to see the 8-year-old’s permit to sell water.
The “Permit Patty” story shares similarities to another viral video of an Oakland woman nicknamed “BBQ Becky” calling the police on black men for grilling in a public park earlier this year.
