Brawl erupts in airport after man slapped woman for refusing to get up from seat next to his wife
The brawl unfolded after the aggressor, Héctor Santacruz, walked over to the bench at Gate 9 in El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá on Sunday night and asked Claudia Segura to stand up from her seat.
A heated discussion ensued, in which Segura declined to give up her seat so that Santacruz could sit next to his wife, Karen de Santacruz.
Santacruz towered over Segura, as the argument escalated and he suddenly slapped her cell phone out of her hands and struck her in the face.
Three passengers, including a woman, intervened to defend Segura as they shoved the man back, before his own wife stood up and got involved.
Multiple people could be heard shouting at Santacruz for attacking Segura.
A separate video showed Segura lying on her back while she was tended to by an airport work.
Santacruz's wife gathered their belongings as he was escorted by an airport police officer.
Segura, who is a government contractor, told El Tiempo newspaper that the was waiting for her flight to depart and was looking for a place to sit so that she could continue to work on her laptop.
'When I got to the waiting area, everything was completely full, and I only saw one empty chair,' she recalled. 'I didn't have any bags or clothes on me to indicate it was occupied, so I sat down.'
Segura said that Santacruz's wife told her that the seat was occupied but she countered by telling her that it was not occupied.
She had just finished a work-related phone call when Santacruz threatened her and said: 'Get up or I'll get you up.'
Segura held her ground when Santacruz turned to another passenger and asked them to make sure they were recording the showdown.
'He hits me on the hand, knocks off my phone, and hits me hard in the face and head. The magnitude of the impact knocked my earring off,' she said.
Segura said that the police took her to a local urgent care center in the town of Engativá for a medical evaluation and that she had to share the same vehicle as her attacker.
'I am affected and very afraid,' she said.
Santacruz's wife released a video apology on Wednesday and condemned his behavior after her design business was bombarded with criticism.
'The person shown physically assaulting a woman is my husband. And you don't know how much it hurts me to say this out loud,' Karen said. 'And it really hurts me as a woman, as a mother, as the founder of Khala, because all of this goes against what we want, what we've been working on for so many years.'
'I know that when things like this happen, it's easy to point fingers, judge, and dismiss,' she added. 'But I also know that many of us have made mistakes at some point in our lives.
'But as the old saying goes, let he who is without sin cast the first stone. This doesn't mean it's right, because it isn't.
'No, I don't condone it, I don't approve of it, and I won't remain silent. I reject it from the bottom of my heart because I believe in dignity, in boundaries, and in respect.'
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