ABC News(HOUSTON) — A man arrested for allegedly touching a woman’s breast on an airplane, according to court documents, told authorities “the president of the United States says it’s OK to grab women by their private parts.”
Bruce Alexander was on a Houston-to-Albuquerque flight on Sunday when he twice leaned forward and touched the breast of a woman sitting in front of him, court records show.
The woman, who wasn’t identified, told authorities she thought the first of two touchings may have been accidental, while the second clearly wasn’t.
According to court documents, after she dozed off and was touched again “she rose from her seat, turned around and told the passenger behind her that she didn’t know why he thought it was OK and he needed to stop.”
A crew member relocated the woman to a different seat.
Alexander, whose hands matched those described by the victim — “thick fingers, were hairy and dirty finger nails” — was arrested when the plane landed.
Alexander has been charged with abusive sexual contact. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for later today.
It’s unclear at this time whether Alexander has retained legal counsel.
During the final months of the 2016 presidential campaign, then-candidate Trump was caught on a 2005 video bragging to “Access Hollywood” host Billy Bush about sexually assaulting women.
“It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything,” Trump said. “Grab them by the p—-. You can do anything.”
The video prompted national outrage. In a statement after the video was released, Trump apologized and referred to his comments as “locker room banter.” After Trump was elected, there were reports that he questioned the authenticity of the recording, after which “Access Hollywood” clarified once more that the tape was real.
ABC News’ Alex Stone contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.