Girl is reported to the police for killing bugs – then honored by elite university Documents affair: FBI searched Biden’s offices in mid-November

On October 22, a man in Caldwell, New Jersey, witnessed a scene outside his home that disturbed him. A girl went from tree to tree spraying them with a liquid he couldn’t identify.

So the man decided to pick up the phone and report it to the police. “There’s a little black woman spraying something on the trees,” he told officials, according to CNN. ‘I don’t know what she’s doing there. But it scares me.”

When police arrived, the man’s concerns proved unfounded. The girl was nine-year-old Bobbi Wilson. She had made it her project to protect the trees in her neighborhood.

At school, Wilson had learned about the spotted lanternhopper, an insect native to Southeast Asia but now also native to the United States. Lantern locusts are known to dig holes in trees and drink from them, allowing pollutants to enter the tree. Scientists therefore recommend killing the pests. Wilson was aware of this problem. That’s why she had searched TikTok for a recipe for a mixture – consisting of water, dish soap and apple cider vinegar – with which she could kill the insects.

When police recognized Wilson’s intentions, the situation calmed down. Still, the incident made headlines across the country. Monique Joseph, the girl’s mother, made serious accusations against the neighbor. In the United States, black children are significantly more likely to be shot than white children, putting Wilson at unnecessary risk, according to Joseph.

The neighbor allegedly apologized and said he thought it was a stray girl or an old woman with dementia. But Joseph did not accept this excuse. Her daughter has not been the same since that day. About a month later, Joseph said she hoped lessons would be learned from the incident.

Ijeoma Opara, an assistant professor at the elite Yale University, also followed the whole story closely. She chose to honor Wilson for her service. So she invited the girl, who was very interested in science, and her 13-year-old sister to Yale, where they could meet several successful black female scientists. “Yale doesn’t usually do this,” Opara clarified, “we wanted to honor her courage and show how inspiring she is.”

Wilson did not come to Yale empty-handed. She brought back her collection of 27 dead Lantern Cicadas that she collected during her mission. She donated these to the insect collection of the Yale Peabody Museum, where they are already on display in the database.

Wilson’s mother, Monique Joseph, was moved by the invitation. “I appreciate that. It means the world to us,” she said. And then promised: “You will continue to hear from Bobbi. Because we will do everything we can to ensure she can live up to her full potential.”

(dab)