Alleged plane groper: ‘Trump says it’s OK to grab women’
Man accused of fondling female passenger apparently cited the US president as justification

A man arrested for groping a woman as she slept on a plane told officers that “the president of the United States says it’s OK”, a court has heard.
Bruce Michael Alexander, 49, appeared in federal court in Albuquerque yesterday, charged with abusive sexual contact against a female passenger on a flight from Houston, Texas, to Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Sunday.
According to court documents, the woman says she fell asleep shortly after take-off when she felt the defendant touch her “near her bra-line”, the Albuquerque Journal reports.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
At the time, she believed the contact could have been accidental. However, around half an hour later, “she was grabbed and groped again, this time ‘attentively’”.
The unidentified woman says she confronted Alexander and then asked a crew member to move her to another seat.
At the request of the crew, law enforcement agents were waiting at Albuquerque International Sunport when the flight touched down.
After being placed in handcuffs, Alexander is alleged to have “invoked President Trump’s infamous Access Hollywood comments”, says The Daily Beast, telling officers: “The president of the United States says it's OK to grab women by their private parts.”
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
However, in a later, written statement, Alexander denied the allegations and claimed he had slept through the flight. He remains in custody.
In the Access Hollywood tape recording from 2005, leaked in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election, Trump can be heard bragging about groping women without their consent.
“And when you're a star, they let you do it,” he said. “You can do anything. Grab ‘em by the pussy.”
-
Music reviews: Chance the Rapper, Cass McCombs, and Molly Tuttle
Feature "Star Line," "Interior Live Oak," and "So Long Little Miss Sunshine"
-
Film reviews: Eden and Honey Don't!
Feature Seekers of a new utopia spiral into savagery and a queer private eye prowls a high-desert town
-
Critics' choice: Three chefs fulfilling their ambitions
Feature Kwame Onwuachi's grand second act, Travis Lett makes a comeback, and Jeff Watson's new Korean restaurant
-
Trump soaks up adoration in his made-for-TV Cabinet meetings
IN THE SPOTLIGHT The president's televised sessions have become a platform for his top lieutenants to demonstrate executive flattery
-
Court rejects Trump suit against Maryland US judges
Speed Read Judge Thomas Cullen, a Trump appointee, said the executive branch had no authority to sue the judges
-
Can anyone save Jimmy Lai?
Today's Big Question 'Britain's shameful inaction' will mean it's partly 'responsible' if Hong Kong businessman dies in prison
-
Trump expands National Guard role in policing
Speed Read The president wants the Guard to take on a larger role in domestic law enforcement
-
Trump says he's firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Speed Read The move is likely part of Trump's push to get the central bank to cut interest rates
-
America: Are we now living in an autocracy?
Feature 200 days into his presidency and Trump is still deepening his authoritarian grip
-
Red states join in Trump's D.C. crackdown
Feature 1,200 troops arrive in Washington D.C. from six red states
-
Pomp but little progress at Trump's Ukraine talks
Feature Trump's red carpet welcoming for Putin did little to advance a peace deal with Ukraine