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Ryan Lochte Protesters Speak Out After ‘DWTS’ Ambush; Lochte Injured

Sep 14, 2016  •  Post A Comment

Two men who rushed the stage during Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte’s appearance Monday on “Dancing with the Stars” are speaking out following their release today from jail.

“Sam Satoodeh and Barzeen Soroudi were arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor trespassing and each held on $1,000 bail after the pair rushed the stage Monday to protest the Olympic swimmer on the ABC ballroom dancing competition,” the AP reports.

Outside of the jail today, Satoodeh told ABC News: “Our purpose is to get the message out that Lochte is a coward, a liar and under Brazilian law, a criminal.”

Soroudi said he thinks Lochte “embarrassed Americans on the world’s stage, and this was our form of protesting against that.”

Meanwhile, Lochte’s dance partner Cheryl Burke blogged about the incident for People magazine and noted that Lochte was slightly injured in the incident.

“We have a quickstep this week and Ryan did injure his ankle a little when the protester got tackled, so we’ll have to see how our first rehearsal goes. But at the end of the day, we are all just so grateful that no one was more seriously injured,” she wrote.

Burke added: “This is a family-friendly show that should never be the source of any hate. It’s about celebrating dance and making people happy and I look forward to getting back to that next week.”

dancing with the stars

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