Petra Laszlo, who tripped migrants, including children as they were attempting to flee from police, has not only lost her job but has also been charged by Hungarian authorities.
In September of 2015, Laszlo, who worked as a camerawoman for N1TV, was supposed to be filming the headline-making refugee crisis in Europe, but she became the story. Laszlo was sent to cover the hundreds of migrants, who broke through a police barrier near the town of Szeged, Hungary.
However, she decided to take matters into her hands, or should we say feet. The world watched as the camera operator stretched out one leg and caused a man carrying a toddler to stumble to the floor. She was also seen kicking a young girl on the knee.
The TV network moved quickly to fire her after the incident. Laszlo first said she was going to sue the migrants and after receiving significant backlash, she eventually apologized by saying:
“I am not a heartless, child-kicking, racist camera operator.I do not deserve the political witch hunt that has been launched against me, nor do I deserve the abusive threats that often call for my death. I am just a woman, who has recently become an unemployed mother.”
On Wednesday, prosecutors decided to charge Laszlo for disorderly conduct. The prosecutors said in a statement:
“While filming she kicked a young man in the shin with a swift kick of the sole of her right foot, and also kicked young girl around the knee with her right foot.”
The prosecutors concluded that Laszlo’s actions were not racially motivated and therefore not hate crimes. Prosecutors stated after reviewing videos of the incident; they discovered that she had not kicked Osama Abdul Mohsen, the man carrying the small child. The report reads:
“(Laszlo) kicked toward a man carrying a child in his hands, but the kick did not reach the man. The man carrying the child still fell, because… one of the policemen tried to catch and restrain him, and he lost his balance as he broke free.”
Mr. Mohsen now resides in Spain where a sports school is working to get him employed. On October 2nd, Hungary will hold a referendum on whether to accept EU migrant quotas.