Writer Danielle Young has accused Civil rights activist, Rev. Jesse Jackson, of sexual harassment after she claims that he grabbed her thigh while making a rather crude and unsavory comment.
“I walked toward Jackson, smiling, and he smiled back at me,” Young wrote. “His eyes scanned my entire body. All of a sudden, I felt naked in my sweater and jeans. As I walked within arm’s reach of him, Jackson reached out a hand and grabbed my thigh, saying, ‘I like all of that right there!’ and gave my thigh a tight squeeze.”
It should be noted that this is not the first time he’s been accused of such behavior. Back in 2010, he was accused of trying to pick up a male member of his staff, which of course Jackson denied.
“The Rainbow PUSH Coalition unequivocally deny Tommy Bennett’s false claims of harassment, retaliation and discrimination,” the organization said in a statement released late Thursday, adding that it is “fully cooperating with the Chicago Commission on Human Relations and expect to be fully exonerated.”
And Bennett claims that among his duties was to “clean his [hotel] room after sexual intercourse with women.”
As reported by NBC Chicago:
A representative for Jackson’s Rainbow PUSH Coalition said, “Although Rev. Jackson does not recall the meeting three years ago, he profoundly and sincerely regrets any pain Ms. Young may have experienced.”
Young said she was “never going to tell this story” originally “because, for the longest time, I didn’t even know if there was a story.”
“What happened to me was something that was so casual, I almost didn’t even consider it sexual harassment, even though it was beyond my desire,” she wrote.
Jackson was previously accused of harassment in 2010 by an openly gay staffer who filed a complaint alleging the civil rights leader propositioned him.
Jackson flatly denied the allegations in a legal response.