Victim of D.C. twerking attack breaks silence

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The 40-year-old man whose story went national when he called police after a couple women forcibly twerked on him and groped him in a Washington D.C. gas station convenience store is now speaking out to say that the video of his assault doesn’t tell the whole story.

“It looks like I just had some girls twerking on me, and I just called the police. That is not what happened at all,” the man, whose name is Washington Tharpe, told WJLA.

Tharpe claimed the Oct. 7 assault lasted ten minutes and that the women followed him to his car, stopping the door from closing as he tried to leave and asking him to give them a ride. When he tried to hide in the carwash, they followed him, and Tharpe said he began to fear for his life.

Although Tharpe, who is a middle school teacher, had before been reluctant to go public with his story and to reveal his identity because of his embarrassment, he said that he felt it was time to tell the truth. Now, he hopes to be an advocate for male victims of sexual assault.

When asked by the local ABC7 reporter why he decided to go public with his name and story, Tharpe replied:

You know what it is so funny? Like right now, I don’t think it has anything to do with courage. I am like, I am so comfortable because I know the truth. I didn’t commit a crime. I didn’t do anything wrong, so I have nothing to worry about. It is not about me being afraid or not afraid or embarrassed or not embarrassed. I am speaking the truth. Maybe it will help someone else in the future.