Police in Illinois have arrested a 20-year-old who grabbed WGN reporter Gaynor Hall during a segment and screamed, "F**k her right in the p***y."

Hall was live on-air covering storm damage in Shorewood, Illinois, for the 10 p.m. WGN newscast on Saturday when Eric Farina violently put his arms around her from behind and screamed the obscenities, BuzzFeed reported. 


On Facebook, Hall spoke about the incident and said it was not funny despite what Farina may have thought.

"A brief note to the young man who jumped in my liveshot tonight: It was not funny. You violated my personal space. You grabbed me. You scared me. Was it worth it?" she wrote.

Some of her coworkers also sent Hall messages of support and called for police to find and arrest Farina. 

In a statement, Shorewood Police said the 20-year-old was arrested Sunday morning. He confessed to being the one in the video and was released on bond after being charged with battery and disorderly conduct.

For decades, women reporters have had to deal with harassment from sources and random people on the street who grab them and say offensive things to them. 

The "f**k her right in the p***y" phrase Farina used is particularly noteworthy because men have repeatedly shouted it at female reporters over the past few years. 

Reporter Alex Bozarjian made waves in December when she called out a man for slapping her during a news segment, as Blavity previously reported. 

She wrote on Twitter that the man "violated, objectified, and embarrassed" her on live television. The man behind the slap, Thomas Callaway, was eventually arrested and charged. 

Millions watched the video to see Bozarjian's horrified face after Callaway slapped her. 

"It's not OK to help yourself to a woman's body just because you feel like it. It's not playful. He hurt me, both physically and emotionally," she told Gayle King on CBS This Morning. 

Bozarjian's experience unearthed dozens of stories from women who said they too were harassed and assaulted while covering events or interviewing people. 

Last year, Louisville television reporter Sara Rivest was forcibly kissed by a man on live television. The man was eventually charged with harassment.

The Washington Post ran through a long list of situations in a piece about Bozarjian last year, which included NFL legend Joe Namath accosting ESPN reporter Suzy Kolber in 2003 and Colombian reporter Julieth González Therán having her breasts grabbed during a World Cup segment in 2018. 

“I had been at the scene for two hours to prepare for the broadcast, and there had been no interruptions. When we went live, this fan took advantage of the situation. But afterwards, when I checked to see if he was still there, he was gone," González Therán said in an interview with The Washington Post.

“RESPECT! We do not deserve this treatment. We are equally valuable and professionals. I share the joy of football, but we must identify the limits of affection and harassment,” she wrote on Instagram.

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