Former Senator Says She Was Assaulted

(USNewsBreak.com) – When women go out for jogs, authorities urge them to be cautious and aware of their surroundings at all times because of the various risks they face. One former senator says she was recently a victim, but she’s not running away — she’s fighting.

Martha McSally (R), a former US Senator from Arizona, says she was out for a run on Wednesday, November 8, when a man grabbed her from behind. She says he put her in a bear hug and molested her as she tried — and eventually succeeded — to fight him off. McSally, who posted about the attack on Instagram, said she didn’t flee after the incident but instead chose to be proactive and chase after her attacker.

Former Arizona Sen. Martha McSally (R) said she was sexually assaulted during a run alongside the Missouri River, near the border of Iowa and Nebraska. https://t.co/qM6NIpUyBe

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) November 9, 2023

“I ran after him; I threw my water bottle at him,” she says in the video, noting that he ran into the brush as she was calling 911 and waiting for the police. McSally says authorities didn’t find the suspect but wanted everyone to know that she’s okay, though she “has a lot to process.”

This situation isn’t the first time the former senator has spoken out about sexual assault. McSally was in the Air Force for more than two decades, where she claims one of her superiors sexually assaulted her. She referenced that attack in her post about this most recent one, saying that while she has healed, Wednesday’s attack links into that trauma. McSally also spoke out about the former assault during a 2019 Senate hearing on the matter of sexual assault in the military to bring awareness to the issue despite “years of silence.”

McSally described the suspect in Wednesday’s alleged assault as a man with a stocky build, white or Hispanic, between the ages of 25 and 40. While she was proactive and chose to fight, McSally clarified that she was not advising other women how to act in a similar situation, only relaying her experience.