A horrifying video of an indigenous woman being attacked by a mob of white people for not wearing a bra has gone viral on Twitter. The clip, shared and taken by the victim Laura Gagnon, shows the mob accosting her, and one suspect — who the police have yet to publicly identify — appears to strike her.
“Yesterday evening I was attacked by a white woman who was upset I was wearing no bra,” Gagnon shared in a tweet alongside a video of the incident. “I utilized IG live to record her actions against me. I have never experienced a white mob chasing me and it’s the scariest thing that’s ever happened to me in my life. Please be safe out there.”
Yesterday evening I was attacked by a white woman who was upset I was wearing no bra. I utilized IG live to record her actions against me. I have never experienced a white mob chasing me and it’s the scariest thing that’s ever happened to me in my life. Please be safe out there pic.twitter.com/8Fw2hsO5Iu
— Laura Gagnon B.Coms, MA (@LauraGee77) September 8, 2022
The footage shows the incident, which occurred last Wednesday, begin with a verbal altercation between Gagnon and another woman. Two women then approach Gagnon and as she questions why she, as an Indigenous woman, would be body-shamed on unceded Algonquin territory, the Ottawa Citizen reports.
“Don’t touch me b****,” she shouts as one of the women appears to physically assault her.
Things escalate as the mobsters realize Gagnon is filming. One woman, presumably the one who hit Gagnon, is heard screaming, “stop filming.” She appears to hit Gagnon again, this time knocking her down to the ground as more screaming ensues.
Gagnon struggles to get up and get her things, including her phone, which the mobsters snatched from her. The video cuts and we see Gagnon in her car explaining what just happened.
“Guys, I’m being attacked right now,” she says breathless. “And none of these people…” her voice trails off as the mobsters bang and knock on her doors. The woman who allegedly hit her is shown climbing on the hood of her car.
“This lady is attacking me right now,” Gagnon says in the video. She later says that she believes the woman attacked her because she wasn’t wearing a bra.
According to the Ottawa Citizen, police were called to the Billings Bridge area in Ottawa, Canada where the incident occurred after reports of a “collision.” Investigators deemed Gagnon had been assaulted, charged the suspect and took them into custody. Later, they were released after being served a notice to appear in court.
Authorities are describing the incident as a “verbal altercation that escalated into a physical altercation.”
While appearing in court, the unnamed 37-year-old suspect is said to be charged with assault and mischief.
The Ottawa Police Service Hate and Bias Crime Unit has also reviewed the case, though no hate crime-related charges have been filed.
