Instagram influencer charged , falsly claimed Latino couple tried to kidnap her kids

[Demovictory9]

Link to tweet

A California mom and Instagram influencer who went viral last December after accusing a Latino couple of attempting to kidnap her kids in a Petaluma crafts store has been charged with giving false information to police, according to county prosecutors.

Katie Sorensen, of Sonoma County, is facing two misdemeanor counts for allegedly lying to cops about the incident. The outlandish accusation against longtime locals Eduardo and Sadie Martinez, who have five kids of their own, was an obvious case of racial profiling, the two said at the time.

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The wild claim began with a video Sorensen posted Dec. 13 to her now-defunct Instagram account, @motherhoodessentials.

“Monday of this week, my children were the targets of attempted kidnap,” she said. “Um, which is such a weird thing to even vocalize. But, um, it happened. And I want to share that story with you in an effort to raise awareness as to what signs to look for and to just encourage parents to just be more aware of their surroundings and what is going on around them.”


Sorensen, who is white, later told local news outlet KTVU that a man and woman had followed her, her 4-year-old son, and her 1-year-old daughter into the store. She said in the Instagram video that she then heard the couple, who “didn't look necessarily clean cut,” on the phone, describing what her kids looked like.

“I heard them talking about the features of my children, but I was totally paralyzed with fear,” Sorensen continued. “I just couldn't bring myself to say anything.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/sonoma-influencer-katie-sorensen-charged-with-false-kidnap-claim-against-latino-couple-eduardo-sadie-martinez
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Police released a CCTV image of the couple and asked for witnesses to come forward but they were unable to find any evidence or witnesses to corroborate Sorensen’s account.

Sadie Martinez, who recognized herself and her husband in the surveillance camera photo, said at a subsequent press conference, “I couldn’t believe it. It’s like we’re literally guilty of being brown while shopping.”

[CurtEastPoint]

1. so apparently, 'Katie' for you 'motherhoodessentials' means being a racist cannotsaythewordhere

[Demovictory9]

2. yeah, it means putting a Latino couple in serious jeopardy for instragram hits

[Grokenstein]

5. A tale as old as time, as white as it can be.

Anyone think this cretin would feel even a little guilty if she'd been Emmett Till's accuser?

[magicarpet]

3. Latino,... oh of course,... they were likely illegal alien murderers, rapists,... or drug dealers,..

... who couldn't find anyone handy to kill that day. So they decided to kidnap her children.

This sick woman is on a racist fun fest parade,... hunting down dark complected people who's ass she can pour gasoline on and then light on fire.

This is the racist/white power legacy of donald j. trDUMP - the Fascist pig.

[OldBaldy1701E]

6. Immigrants!

R.I.P. Jessica Walter

[Treefrog]

4. Misdemeanor charges are not appropriate to me.

I can’t imagine what might have happened to those people. Somehow there should be harsher charges for something as vile as that.

[zaj]

7. Civil lawsuit

[MustLoveBeagles]

10. This

[niyad]

8. This racist, hate-filled, ugly person should be charged with a hell of a lot more than a couple of

tap-on-the-wrist misdemeanors. She actively sought to destroy their lives, and could have gotten them killed. I thank Goddess that she is not my neighbor, because I might be tempted to do somewhat more than shun her.

[wnylib]

9. A Mexican friend of mine was the target of theft accusations

in a Walmart store several years ago. She is a naturalized citizen and speaks English but often used Spanish with me for my sake, to get speaking practice. We were in the checkout lane at Walmart with her daughter, who was about 7 at the time. It was a hot summer day and her daughter was sipping a cold fruit drink through a straw in a bottle that she had brought into the store with her.

The people behind us were complaining about us not speaking English. When my friend paid for her purchases, the people behind us yelled, "Hey, what about the kid's drink?" They told the cashier that the kid and her mother were trying to avoid paying for the drink. My friend turned to them and said, in English, "I am a law abiding citizen and I am raising my daughter that way. If you saw her steal something, please tell me and I will take care of it."

The cashier looked at the bottle and said Walmart did not carry that brand. The complaining people snapped at my friend that she should have been speaking English, as if that made a difference. So I said to the trouble makers, "So she speaks more than one language. What's your problem? Is it that you're too dumb to learn another one?"

[Demovictory9]

11. good for you...speaking up for your friend. she was experiencing someone trying profile her into

an arrest

[uponit7771]

12. +1,

[obamanut2012]

13. I hope the "Influencer" and her husband have lots of money

And I hope the Martinezs already have a great attorney who is ready to file a civil suit.

[kcr]

14. So glad to hear she's been charged

I heard about this back when it happened.

[Solly Mack]

15. Isn't that akin to swatting? She could have easily got someone harmed or killed with her lie

and yet only -

two misdemeanor counts

She deserves charges that reflect what she actually did - and it goes much deeper than lying to the police.

[Wingus Dingus]

16. So, their crime was...they were behind her, apparently talking about someone's children in some way

and she was listening in to their discussion. And they entered and left the store at the same time. Yes, I can totally see why she thought a kidnapping was in progress! The real issue I'm guessing is that her instagram following was probably stagnating and she needed to boost it.

[intheflow]

17. Best - really! - part of this story is buried at the end of the article.

In the aftermath of the kidnapping allegation, Sadie Martinez started a #ProsecuteKatie movement on social media, and was appointed to Petaluma’s advisory panel on policing and race relations.

(Bolded emphasis mine.)

Racist asshole gets arrested and charged, person racially profiles gets APPOINTED to an advisory panel on how the municipality can be less racist. I'm going to say that's the best thing to come out of this story, as horrible as it came about.