Woman Found Guilty of Sex Abuse During Infowars Interview

By Sean Jackson

On January 21st, Owen Shroyer, a video producer for the website Infowars accused a Women’s March protestor of touching him inappropriately while recording an interview at the D.C. demonstration. Police later charged Isabel O’Shaughnessy, 21, with misdemeanor sex abuse after Shroyer reported the incident on January 23rd.

The criminal complaint issued by Shroyer states that while he was in the midst of an interview the woman “grabbed and squeezed” his genitals.

Shortly after the incident occurred, Shroyer posted a tweet including a video of the incident, stating, “Here is the moment I was sexually assaulted by a #WomensMarch2019 protestor. She laughed about it. The crowd cheered it. The police did nothing.”

The local police told the Washington Post that the university student surrendered to law enforcement the following Wednesday after Shroyer pressed charges that resulted in an arrest affidavit.

O’Shaughnessy told police that she had “inadvertently brushed up against him,” and that Shroyer misinterpreted her comments during the “emotionally charged situation.” O’Shaughnessy claims that she was being sarcastic in the video where she states that she was engaging in the act.

Court documents indicate that on January 30th O’Shaughnessy initially pled ‘not guilty’, which brought the case to trial. On July 26th prosecutors in the D.C. Superior Court found O’Shaughnessy guilty of misdemeanor sex abuse, sentencing her to five days incarceration, as well as unsupervised probation for six months and a payment of $50.

Shroyer released a statement on Infowars indicating that he is pleased with the court’s ruling, stating, “It was such a relief when I heard the judge’s verdict. It was the right thing and a relief to know my political speech was protected in this case and crimes could not be committed against me.” 

(Correction 8/3: An earlier version of this story said “touching him appropriately” rather than “inappropriately”)