Women’s Group Demands State Department Fire Steven Munoz
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, May 04, 2017
CONTACT: Yasmina Dardari | 407-922-8149 | yasmina@unbendablemedia.com
UltraViolet Demands State Department Fire Steven Munoz
Munoz Was Accused of Sexual Assault by Five Freshman While a Student at The Citadel
WASHINGTON DC — Yesterday, ProPublica reported that Steven Munoz, a high-ranking State Department political appointee, was accused of multiple sexual assaults as a student at The Citadel military college.
According to the report, while at The Citadel, five male freshman alleged that Munoz abused his positions as an upperclassman, class president and head of the campus Republican Society to grope them. The Citadel concluded that “certain assaults likely occurred” but a local prosecutor who reviewed the case declined to seek an indictment.
Shaunna Thomas, co-founder of UltraViolet, a leading women’s advocacy group, issued the following statement, urging the State Department to fire Munoz:
“Reports that the Trump administration has appointed a serial sexual predator to a key position at the State Department is deeply disturbing, but sadly, not surprising. Trump himself is no stranger to sexual assault: Not only have several women stepped forward accusing the Commander-In-Chief of sexually abusing them, but he has been caught on tape literally bragging about using his position as a celebrity to assault women, downplaying the seriousness of his remarks as mere ‘locker room talk.’
“The accusations mounted against Munoz are too shocking and well-documented to ignore, and anything short of an immediate termination of Munoz will strike a serious blow to the credibility of the State Department—an institution which represents our country to the rest of the world. Trump should be staffing his administration with our nation’s best and brightest—not with criminals. The Trump Administration should fire Munoz immediately.”
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UltraViolet is an online community of over 1,000,000 women and men who want to take collective action to expose and fight sexism in the public sector, private sector and the media. Find out more at WeAreUltraViolet.org.