Melissa Rein Lively, a 40-year-old American influencer and founder of the 'anti-woke' America First Public Relations firm, has admitted assaulting a woman at Bond Street tube station in London last October. The incident occurred on the evening of 11 October as two sisters were walking towards the station with their children, one in a pushchair.
According to prosecutors, Rein Lively, who may have been intoxicated, stumbled into the pushchair and then grabbed one of the sisters by the hair, pulling it 'forcefully'. The victim retaliated by pulling Rein Lively's hair to make her let go. Rein Lively was accompanied by Philipp Ostermann, a 37-year-old German national, who faces separate charges of racially aggravated public order offences.
At Westminster Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, Rein Lively accepted a conditional caution, admitting the conduct amounted to a criminal offence. She agreed to pay £910 in compensation to the victim, though the sum has not yet been paid and is due in July. A charge of assault by beating against her was withdrawn. Rein Lively did not attend the hearing.
Ostermann, who pleaded not guilty to three charges, was granted unconditional bail and is due to appear at City of London Magistrates' Court in November for trial. The court heard that the sisters noticed the pair ahead of them before the altercation occurred.
