A Tampa man is accused of groping a woman on a Southwest Airlines flight and attempting to use President Donald Trump as his defense.
A complaint filed by the FBI on Monday claims that 49-year-old Bruce Michael Alexander touched a female passenger sitting in front of him at least three times during a flight from Houston to Albuquerque on Sunday.
The victim told police that she dozed off after boarding and within 20 minutes, she felt “a movement on the right side of her sweater,” the complaint says, adding that the woman had initially assumed the touching was an accident.
Roughly 30 minutes later, the victim “felt fingers slowly grab the back of her arm, squeezing above the elbow, then slowly and ‘attentively’ grope her right side, again at and around her ribs and ‘bra line,’” according to the court document.
The FBI says Alexander told the arresting agent that "the president of the United States says it's OK to grab women by their private parts."
Trump was the star of “The Apprentice” TV show when he was caught on a hot microphone bragging to Billy Bush, then the host of “Access Hollywood,” about how his fame enabled him to kiss and “do anything” to women.
“And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything,” Trump said. “Grab ’em by the p—y. You can do anything.”
The tape emerged during the 2016 presidential election.
He faces up to two years in prison and a fine of as much as 250,000-dollars.