Watch: Reporter speaks out against man who assaulted her during a live news segment
‘No woman should EVER have to put up with this at work or anywhere!’ said Alex Bozarjian.
Check out this jerk smacking a @WSAV reporter's ass live on air. And sorry, that's my kiddo making horribly timed weird noises in the background. pic.twitter.com/6tzi6P1Jbo
— Tonya (@GrrrlZilla) December 7, 2019
Female reporter Alex Bozarjian was live on NBC’s WSAV network for sports when one of the men running in the marathon she was covering touched her inappropriately and sped off.
As part of a live segment, Bozarjian was standing next to the runners’ route for the Savannah Bridge Run when the incident took place. As the video above shows, she went from cheerful and enthusiastic to visibly flustered, though she attempted to continue reporting even after the assault.
Bozarjian responded to the man on social media, addressing him directly and saying “You violated me.”
To the man who smacked my butt on live TV this morning: You violated, objectified, and embarrassed me. No woman should EVER have to put up with this at work or anywhere!! Do better. https://t.co/PRLXkBY5hn
— Alex Bozarjian (@wsavalexb) December 7, 2019
Robert Wells, director of Savannah Sports Council, which sponsored the race, responded to Bozarjian and the video saying “Alex, what happened today is 100% unacceptable. You have my assurance we will identify him.”
Alex, what happened today is 100% unacceptable. You have my assurance we will identify him.
— Robert Wells (@RobWells1) December 7, 2019
The man was swiftly identified by social media users as Tommy Callaway, using his marathon bib number. He is reportedly a youth church minister from Statesboro, Georgia. He has now been banned from running in future events and the police have been notified about the incident.
Here are some of the online responses.
😢 but:
— Judy Schear (@BlueElection) December 8, 2019
Damn proud of all the men who are responding in support of this young lady. 👊 To the one responder who doesn’t see the issue here, you’re part of the problem. #rapeculture
The look on her face and the shift in her voice broke my heart. It’s so disgusting that this guy decided to do this. He literally crosses down to her in order to do this and then continues running like it’s nothing. Like the audacity of it all sickens me.
— Just A Mess (@TheLukewarmMess) December 8, 2019
The look on his face is vile and malicious. And the stunned look on yours is heartbreaking. I hope he's caught - doubt he'd have the courage to fess up.
— James R. Benn (@JimmyWriter) December 7, 2019
this. If a man thinks he can do this on regional news, he'll do it to any woman anywhere.
— Victoria De Capua (@victoriadecapua) December 8, 2019