A US influencer known for promoting 'anti-woke' politics has admitted assaulting a woman at Bond Street tube station in London last October. Melissa Rein Lively, 40, founder of the America First Public Relations firm, accepted a conditional caution at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.
As part of the caution, Rein Lively acknowledged her conduct amounted to a criminal offence and agreed to pay £910 in compensation to the victim. The charge of assault by beating was subsequently withdrawn, but the court heard the compensation has not yet been paid and is due in July. Rein Lively did not attend the hearing.
Prosecutor Lyndon Harris said the incident occurred on the evening of 11 October as two sisters walked towards the station with children, one in a pushchair. The sisters noticed Rein Lively and a man, later identified as German national Philipp Ostermann, ahead of them. It appeared to one sister that Rein Lively may have been intoxicated.
Rein Lively allegedly stumbled into the pushchair, prompting the woman pushing it to move back. She then grabbed one of the sisters by the hair and tugged it 'forcefully'. The woman pulled Rein Lively's hair in return to make her let go.
Ostermann, 37, pleaded not guilty to two racially aggravated public order offences and a further public order offence. He was freed on unconditional bail and ordered to return to court in November for trial.
