A female television reporter has spoken out after she was apparently smacked on the bottom by a runner while reporting live on a race in Georgia, US, on Saturday.
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wrote. No woman should EVER have to put up with this at work or anywhere!! Do better
Since a clip, posted on social media by a television viewer, showing the journalist in a high-vis jacket speaking to camera as runners stream past her, before a man wearing sunglasses and a hat comes up very close behind went viral, the runner has been named as Tommy Callaway, a 43-year-old youth minister. Talking to Inside Edition, Callaway said, "I was getting ready to bring my hands up and wave to the camera to the audience, there was a misjudge in character and decision-making. I touched her back; I did not know exactly where I touched her.
"If I did see her facial reaction, I would’ve been embarrassed, felt ashamed, and I would’ve stopped, turned around, and apologised to her. Alex, I’m sorry. It was an awful act. It was an awful mistake."
Callaway was charged by the police on Friday 13 December with 'misdemeanour sexual battery' after turning himself into the police following the incident.
Bozarjian spoke out about the incident later that day. ‘To the man who smacked my butt on live TV this morning: You violated, objectified, and embarrassed me,’ she wrote. ‘No woman should EVER have to put up with this at work or anywhere!! Do better.’
People took to social media to express their outrage, as well as support for Bozarjian. ‘To the man who violated my beautiful, talented, professional and BRILLIANT friend LIVE ON TV: There’s a TEAM of people looking to teach you a lesson in how to not disrespect a woman who is just trying to do her job. Parents, stop raising boys to objectify women and let[‘s] raise them to view everyone as equals,’ Jon Dowding wrote.
Robert Wells, director of the Savannah Sports Council, which sponsored the race, responded to the video. ‘This will not be tolerated at our events,’ Wells wrote on Twitter. ‘How your personality affects running form.’
The runner was later identified on social media, and has since deleted his Twitter account. The Savannah Police Department said authorities had talked with Bozarjian and said their ability to guess further depended on how she wanted to proceed.
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