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The 41-year-old TV host promised exclusive news about the mayor.
During one crazy afternoon, he is said to have accused him of being a pedophile, threatened to kill him, got into a fight in the newsroom with colleagues and the police, and ended up in custody.
Now, the mayor has explained in part what the riot could have been.
“I apologize to the people of Anchorage,” said 58-year-old Democrat Ethan Berkowitz.
It is a true drama that took place in the corridors of power in Alaska’s largest city, Anchorage, located between the sea and the mountains on the northernmost west coast of the United States.
News anchor and reporter Maureen “Maria” Athens, 41, is one of the leading television profiles in the state. She leads the television news on two local stations that broadcast together under the name Your Alaska Link.
Now she herself is the main news in the local media.
On Friday, he promised his Facebook followers an exclusive news story about Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz, a 58-year-old high-profile Democrat who was the party’s candidate to become Alaska governor after Sarah Palin’s resignation.
In the video that was filmed inside the newsroom, the star said the mayor posted photos of himself naked on a site aimed at underage girls.
Photo: Loren Holmes / AP TT
TV host Maria Athens at a press conference during the summer. Stock Photography.
Threatened to kill the mayor
Shortly before, he had left a lurid message on the mayor’s mobile reply, which was later delivered by authorities.
“I’ll win an Emmy, so you can sign up, kill yourself or do whatever you have to do,” Maria Athens said, adding that it would kill both him and his wife, according to the New York Times.
The conflict escalated when the mayor’s staff commented on the video that “the insulting accusations from Your Alaska Link reporter Maria Athens are totally false and appear to come from someone who is hostile and unwell.”
The TV host then responded by posting a photo of a naked man who she claimed was the mayor. Later in the evening, she ended up in a fight with a manager on the television channel with whom she is said to have had a relationship.
Photo: Bill Roth / AP TT
Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz of City Hall, Monday, October 12.
He fought on the editorial board
According to a police report, he allegedly hit the man with his mobile phone when they were sitting together in a car. The fight continued later in the editorial office. Police were called and Athens is charged with hitting a police officer and attempting to kick the door of the police car before she was buckled up and arrested, suspected of a number of crimes.
The media circus continued throughout the weekend.
During Saturday’s trial, he constantly interrupted the judge and demanded his release because “he needed to go back to the television channel to break the news.” He also said that he suffered from an inflammation of the pancreas. The judge decided that she should be released pending prosecution against the relatively moderate sum of SEK 900 in bail. A sum that he waited until Sunday to pay. So it was another night in custody.
On Monday, Mayor Ethan Berkowitz finally broke the silence and shed some light on what may have caused the TV host’s seemingly inexplicable hours of insanity.
Photo: AP TT NEWS AGENCY
Ethan Berkowitz. Stock Photography.
The FBI has investigated
“I apologize to the people of Anchorage for the great lack of judgment that I displayed several years ago when I exchanged inappropriate messages with reporter Maria Athens,” Berkowitz wrote, saying he was ashamed of the damage he had done to his family and society at large. .
Athens has interviewed the mayor on several occasions in 2017 and 2018 on a number of topics, even before “Bring the dog to work” day, local media write.
Anchorage Police, in collaboration with the FBI, have investigated the allegations against the mayor and have not found that he committed any crime. Ethan Berkowitz is a former attorney who has been the Democratic minority leader in the Alaska state legislature for eight years and has been Mayor of Anchorage since 2015.
The owner of the television channel distanced herself from the actions of her star presenter and asked her to drop all accusations against the mayor where she mentions her workplace. On Monday it was unclear whether he would be allowed to continue working.
Athens herself says in questioning that she only pulled her colleague’s arm during the car ride because he was driving badly and that she never touched the police.
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