(AFP) – A US woman influencer with ties to President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement has admitted to assaulting a woman at a London Tube station last year, a court was told Tuesday. It follows an incident on October 11 at Bond Street Underground station during an altercation with two sisters travelling with young children, one in a pushchair.
Influencer Melissa Rein Lively was accused of pulling one of the women’s hair in a “forceful manner” after she stumbled over the pushchair. Rein Lively, 40, had accepted a conditional caution, prosecutor Lyndon Harris told Westminster magistrates court. This is an alternative to prosecution when the offender admits guilt and agrees to comply with certain conditions.
The caution was “an admission to the conduct alleged against her and acknowledgment it amounts to an offence, and she has agreed to pay £910 ($1,225) in compensation,” Harris said. A more serious charge of beating by assault was withdrawn.
Rein Lively’s partner, German national Philipp Ostermann, 37, was charged with two racially aggravated public order crimes and another offence. Rein Lively, who was not in court for the brief hearing, founded “America First”, a public relations agency that provides what it calls “anti-woke” services.
The PR consultant vied for the job of White House spokesperson for Trump’s second term, but the president ultimately picked long-time loyalist Karoline Leavitt. Ostermann, who reportedly works in finance, wore a white shirt and dark suit in court and pleaded not guilty to the three charges against him. He was freed on unconditional bail and told to return for trial on November 17.
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