She wasn’t planning to post his picture.
When Los Angeles-based performer Ariana Lenarsky boarded a flight in Austin, Texas on October 22, she didn’t expect to end up going viral on Twitter.
But when a fellow passenger groped her as she walked by, she took his picture and then turned to social media for advice on what to do.
Lenarsky wasn’t planning to post the photo at first, figuring she’d go through the proper channels and let the authorities deal with it. Things didn’t quite go as she hoped.
Fortunately, she was documenting the entire ordeal:
Some guy grabbed & stroked my calf (??) as I walked by on the plane, so I took his picture. Not gonna post it, but I hope he’s freaked out.
— Ariana Lenarsky (@aardvarsk) October 23, 2016
When she reported it to flight attendants, she found out she wasn’t the only woman on the plane who’d been groped by this particular passenger.
I just told the flight attendants, and they both nodded. They already knew who it was, because other women already complained. Lol.
— Ariana Lenarsky (@aardvarsk) October 23, 2016
They told the captain and are filing a report with the airline. Local authorities will meet the plane when we land.
— Ariana Lenarsky (@aardvarsk) October 23, 2016
As she waited for the plane to land, Lenarsky tweeted that she was “depressed.” But once they landed, things got worse. And when authorities declined to do anything more than “give him a talking to,” she took matters into her own hands.
Police took him off the plane. I’m still here & they’re taking my & another woman’s report. The legal term for how he grabbed me is battery.
— Ariana Lenarsky (@aardvarsk) October 23, 2016
He tried to kiss the other woman. She doesn’t want to press charges bc since it happened in the sky, the FBI would have to get involved.
— Ariana Lenarsky (@aardvarsk) October 23, 2016
If I want to press charges, I’d have to fly back to Austin on my dime, since it’s Austin PD’s jurisdiction. I don’t want to do that.
— Ariana Lenarsky (@aardvarsk) October 23, 2016
Police said they would “give him a talking to”& “it’s not the crime of the century.” True! I’m going to tweet his picture now since it’s nbd
— Ariana Lenarsky (@aardvarsk) October 23, 2016
You can’t grab women on a plane, guy. You can’t do it. Hope you get the help you need. pic.twitter.com/5A5nGqdx87
— Ariana Lenarsky (@aardvarsk) October 23, 2016
The alleged perv’s picture had more than 11,000 retweets and 15,000 likes as of this writing.
Lenarsky called the incident “exhausting, ridiculous, and embarrassing,” and says the Austin Police Department has since reached out to take a report and ask for the contact information of the officer who dealt with the original complaint. She also clarified that the “give him a talking to” and “not the crime of the century” remarks came from the FBI, not local authorities.
Thanks to the many recent allegations against Donald Trump, sexual assault has been making headlines recently – although its prevalence is hardly news to any woman on the planet. Lenarsky said she believes her actions have shed light on the frustrating and often ineffective process of reporting sexual assault.
No one — from twitter all the way up to the FBI — has a clear, just, and efficient protocol for how to handle sexual assault and battery.
— Ariana Lenarsky (@aardvarsk) October 25, 2016
Image via Twitter.
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