https://www.cbsnews.com/news/justin-fairfax-accuser-vanessa-tyson-speaks-out-sexual-assault/>Justin Fairfax accuser Vanessa Tyson describes alleged sexual assault
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Tyson, a politics professor, was the first woman to step forward with her claim that Fairfax assaulted her when they were both working at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. When Tyson met Fairfax, she found him to be "very friendly, very charismatic."
"Harmless even," Tyson told "CBS This Morning" co-host Gayle King. "He's told me that he was at Columbia Law School. And I-- and we realized we had a mutual friend… So we immediately struck up a conversation."
"So you felt you had established a semi-rapport with him?" King asked.
"Yes, certainly. It wasn't flirtatious at all," Tyson said.
"Did you feel safe with him?"
"I certainly felt he was harmless," Tyson responded. "There were no red flags that suggested to me that he was a threat."
Roughly 48 hours after she met Fairfax, on the Wednesday of the convention, Tyson said Fairfax suggested he needed to go pick up some paperwork from his room at a different hotel.
"Did I want to come with him and get a bit of fresh air and sunshine? It's, you know, early afternoon," Tyson recounted. She said him needing to pick up paperwork "sounded completely legitimate."
"You're there in the hotel standing by the door. And then what happens?" King said.
"He crosses the room. And, you know, kind of goes through his luggage, finds some paperwork, right, which is what I assumed we were there for. And good. And then he crosses back around the bed and comes over to me. And I'm still by the door. And he kisses me," Tyson said.
"And you think?"
"Well, I was surprised. I mean, I-- like, for-- for a variety of reasons, I was surprised. But it wasn't unwelcome per se," Tyson said, adding, "I'm okay with kissing."
"You know, and he kind of... gently takes my hands and... guides me towards the bed... And we're still kissing, right? And it's completely consensual," Tyson said. "He guides me to the bed. And then, you know, he sits down on the bed… And what happens from there, you know-- we start kissing lying down but on the very edge of the bed."
"OK, so I'm following. And then what happens?" King asked.
"We're kissing lying down. And we're kissing. Like, so our heads are level with each other. And then it was like my neck didn't work," Tyson said.
"What do you mean?"
"It-- it-- it-- it-- it was like I couldn't-- I couldn't feel my neck. I couldn't hold my head up," Tyson said. "He's using his hand on the back of my neck. And I still didn't know what was going wrong. I thought there was something wrong with my neck… And he's pushing down and pushing down. And I couldn't hold my neck up. And I didn't know what was going on. I honestly didn't know what was going on. And then the next thing I know, like, my head is, like, literally in his crotch… And I'm choking and gagging. And, you know, I couldn't say anything 'cause I'm choking and gagging. And so, you know, it continues for-- and he's holding my head. So I can't lift-- like, I'm trying to lift my head, but I can't."
Throughout it, Tyson said Fairfax wasn't saying anything.
"To be honest, I'm in total shock. Like—" Tyson started.
"Do you say anything to him? No?" King asked.
"I didn't know what to say. I-- I was just-- I was completely caught off guard. It was almost as if I was dumbstruck," Tyson said.
"Have you talked to Justin Fairfax since that day in 2004?" King asked.
"The next day, I remember walk-- it-- it was the last day of the convention. And I remember walking-- you know, I was walking towards the staff lounge," Tyson said. "And-- and I saw him in there. And, you know, he didn't see me. And I just, you know, did a 180 and just went the absolute opposite direction. Like, I just didn't want, didn't even want him to see me, didn't want him, like-- no."
"So you-- you really haven't seen him since that incident in 2004?" King asked.
"No, I haven't seen him," Tyson said. "I remember him trying to call me a couple times. But I-- I-- I-- I just didn't pick up. This was after the convention was over. And I think he emailed me a few times as well. Like, I never initiated contact."
Tyson said she didn't tell anyone about the incident.
"I was so ashamed. I was so humiliated on-- on so many levels. Like, here I was this woman working at a rape crisis center, you know, trying to-- like, as a survivor speaker, trying to empower survivors of sexual assault. And it was like I had just walked into a trap," Tyson said, adding that she is a survivor of incest.
"Was Justin aware of this in your past?" King asked.
"Yes, actually," Tyson said.
"You felt comfortable enough sharing that with him even though you had just met him?" King asked.
"Here's the thing. What I was doing for the rape crisis center was actually probably the biggest part of my life at that time," Tyson said.
"Do you feel he took advantage of you knowing your past?" King asked.
"In retrospect, yes," Tyson said.
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