Yale honours black girl wrongly reported to police over insect project – video report

A nine-year-old girl who had a neighbour call the police on her as she worked to eradicate invasive insects from her home town has earned honours from one of the US’s most prestigious universities. Bobbi Wilson, who is black, unwittingly set off a national discussion about the dangers of racial profiling when a neighbour called the police on her on 22 October as she used a homemade repellant spray of water, dish soap and apple cider vinegar to kill spotted lanternflies, an invasive pest native to Asia which harms trees in a variety of ways and which scientists advise to kill in order to protect the environment. The caller later reportedly apologised to Bobbi’s mother. The Yale School of Public Health earlier this month held a ceremony citing Bobbi's efforts to rid Caldwell, New Jersey, of the spotted lanternfly, according to university officials.

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