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The last words Elizabeth Daly said she heard from Perry Hooper moments before he left Ravello restaurant in downtown Montgomery last August were “I’ll get away with it, because I’m Perry Hooper.”
She said he uttered those words seconds after she alleges he pushed his pelvis into her from behind, grabbed her breasts and kissed her.
Daly issued her first comments detailing the incident Thursday evening in response to court pleadings from Hooper that called the incident an orchestrated political attack and minimized his actions as “laughable.”
In the claim and through his lawyer Tommy Gallion, Hooper denied groping Daly’s breasts and said the video lasted only 2.2 seconds.
Hooper publicly apologized for his actions in December, after Daly dropped the charges against him, stating that “the turmoil for a trial would provide no more justice than a sincere public apology.”
In the statement, Daly said she had “settled” the matter with Hooper, which some had speculated meant that Daly entered a confidential settlement with Hooper, possibly including financial compensation. Daly clarified that she did not seek or receive any monetary compensation.
Daly said Thursday that Hooper’s latest pleadings “betrayed and violated” her faith and trust that Hooper would follow through on their agreement.
“The case/charges were dropped, with the agreement of Mr. Hooper to publicly apologize and take accountability for his actions as well as never speak negatively about me,” Daly said. “I have been in the long, slow process of healing, which has included extending sincere forgiveness to Mr. Hooper every single day; although it is now clear that my forgiveness and dismissal of charges was based on a false statement from Mr. Hooper.”
In Hooper’s pleadings Tuesday, he said Daly was used by his political opponents to damage him in retaliation for his support of former President Donald Trump.
He also said Daly had a “troubled past,” in contrast with his previous apology, in which he called her “an exemplary person.”
Daly said she was heartbroken upon reading the pleadings, but even more outraged.
“I am outraged as a victim, a woman, and a human being, that in this year of 2023, we are still getting sexual assault so wrong that a video of a woman being assaulted is classified as ‘laughable,’” Daly said, “Sexual assault victims, women, and true men everywhere must now grapple with the knowledge that a man or anyone assuming ownership over another’s body, for any length of time, is an event to place in the ‘Comedy Genre.’ This is a disgusting low point and is irresponsibly glorifying rape culture and misogyny. The video in its entirety (which is more than.2.2 seconds), tells a powerful story of sexual assault as a crime of opportunity, ownership, and degradation.”
She also defended the City of Montgomery, the Montgomery Police Department and her mother.
The City of Montgomery and Montgomery PD are the defendants in Hooper’s suit, as Hooper claims they denied him access to his police file or the surveillance video.
The claim also brings in Daly’s mother, stating she told Hooper her “daughter had been used.” Gallion further elaborated to APR that she “blew her roof off” upon learning her daughter “had been used.”
“I would also like to express my love, gratitude and support of my mother, Brenda Daly, who has been a powerful advocate for me, and continues to be a rock, in the midst of this storm that we were intentionally misled to believe was settled and agreed upon by both parties,” Daly said.
“The public servants who diligently serve the City of Montgomery deserve better than the allegations leveled against them in these court filings. They viewed the surveillance video, which matched up with my statement and recollection of events. They expressed genuine empathy, care, and dedication to following the law in this matter.”
Daly also stated that the grand jury “thoughtfully and thoroughly” indicted Hooper after viewing the surveillance video themselves.
Hooper’s suit claims that someone “lied about the facts” of the case before the grand jury and that those falsifications led to his indictment.
