Nicholas Dolinger – Martha McSally, a former U.S. Senator and Air Force pilot, reported a sexual assault incident while jogging near Omaha, Nebraska.

In a sobering Instagram video, McSally detailed the assault, stating, “I was just sexually assaulted while out running. I am safe. I am ok. It could have been much worse.

“I have a lot to process. For anyone else who has been assaulted, speak up. Find your power. Process it emotionally, spiritually, neurologically. I am safe.”

“I was just running while I was out running along the Missouri River on the Iowa side. I’m here in Omaha to speak tonight about courage and heart, and how to be a brave heart. And I just had it put to the test,” McSally said in a video on her page.

“I realize I’m still in an adrenaline state,” she continued, confirming her well-being.

McSally recounted the disturbing event.“ A man came up behind me and he engulfed me in a bear hug, and he molested and fondled me until I fought him off,” she said.

“I then chased him down. I said a lot of swear words in this moment. I was in a fight, flight or freeze, and I chose to fight.”

“I ran after him. I threw my water bottle at him, and I chased him into the brush, where he was then hiding as I called 911 and waited for the police to come. I don’t think they found him, and I’m OK,” McSally narrated the pursuit.

McSally emphasized the importance of her response.

“But, in this moment, I just wanted to share that I chose to fight and I’m OK right now, in part, because of that. It could have been much worse. I still have a lot to process and I will do that in time.”

She expressed her intention to deal with the incident in a “healthy way.”

“I know it’s tapped into a nerve of other sexual abuse and assault that I’ve been through in the past, which I’ve healed from, as much as I feel can be done,” she reflected on her past experiences.

In 2019, McSally revealed a harrowing account of being raped by a superior officer during her time in the Air Force. “In one case I was preyed upon and then raped by a superior officer.”

McSally’s recent encounter brought back memories of her past trauma.

“But in this case, I felt like I took my power back. He tried to take power from me, but I turned it on him and he was running from me instead of the other way around. Not giving anyone advice on how to respond in situations like this. It could have been much worse. But I chose, in the moment, it wasn’t really a decision. I just sprung into action to go after him and have him running from me. But I’m safe and I’m glad that I did that,” she said Wednesday.

SF Source Resist the Mainstream Nov 2023