A woman is raped in the concourse of Denver International Airport while employees pass by and apparently do nothing.
The woman said the man asked if he could kiss her and she refused."I sit up and he's leaned in and he asks, 'Can I kiss you?' And when I tell him that's too forward, before I could finish my statement, he had already pulled me in to kiss him. And he forcefully held me there," the woman said.
"And I'm sitting there with my neck kinked down, and I'm already frantic."
Suddenly, she said, the man grabbed the strings of her hooded sweatshirt and pulled, lifting her off the ground.
The man then threw her on the floor, grabbing her head and pounding it on the floor, said the woman, who had a large bruise above her left eye.
"I couldn't reach anywhere. I couldn't touch anything and I couldn't breathe," she said. "He told me to put myself in a position for him. He pulled my pants down and proceeded to assault me from behind."
The victim said the man tore off her clothing and sexually assaulted her for about 10 minutes on the concourse, which was deserted at that hour.
But don't worry, you don't need the means to protect yourself. Other people will protect you.
During the attack, she said two airport janitors passed by, and said nothing."Another employee walked by, a female, and she looked and she walked away and kept walking. I was just so upset that I couldn't focus on what was going on. I just kept getting my head thrown down," she said.
Finally, she said, two airport workers outside the terminal saw the attack through a window and called police.
Or at least maybe some onlooker will eventually call the police.
Airport spokeswoman Laura Coale said DIA janitors are contract employees. She said the airport is investigating whether any employees failed to report the attack.7NEWS asked Coale if the airport is safe at all hours for women traveling alone. She insisted it is.
"I would say, absolutely. I don't think this one incident represents the entire airport based off one individual's alleged actions," said Coale. "There are 30,000 people working at the airport. And police did respond."
Emphasis mine. The police always respond, but rarely in time to prevent crimes before they occur. This isn't a slight on the police, they don't have super powers. And other people may help you, or they may just stand around. The only one who always has an opportunity to protect you is you. If you're a woman and your assailant is an ex-Marine, you're going to need a weapon to protect yourself, even in an airport.