U.S. Senatorial candidate accused of inappropriate behavior
By Matthew Young, RealWV
Less than two weeks removed from touring West Virginia as a featured speaker on U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ “Fighting Oligarchy” tour, Democratic Senatorial candidate Zach Shrewsbury now finds himself embroiled in controversy.
The situation stems from a massage Shrewsbury reportedly received on July 20, while at a friend’s home in Charleston. As stated in several social media posts made across multiple platforms by both Shrewsbury and massage therapist Clara Marrow, Shrewsbury non-consensually grabbed Marrow’s thigh at least once during their session. While Shrewsbury admits to having “reflexively grabbed her pants/leg after she hit a sore spot in my back,” Marrow states that Shrewsbury “reached out and groped my thigh” no less than four separate times.
“As I was working on his upper body, Zach reached out and groped my thigh,” Marrow’s social media post states. “In that moment, I froze instead of calling it out, and simply moved my leg away. Zach proceeded to grope my leg three more times throughout the massage.”
Marrow further states that she contacted Shrewsbury via telephone on July 21, and “informed him that what he did was wildly inappropriate.” This claim is substantiated by Shrewsbury, whose post states that “I spoke with her directly, apologized for what I said and did, and followed up in writing.”
“She accepted my apology both times,” Shrewsbury adds, before noting, “but has brought it up as an issue again.”
According to Marrow, during her July 21 phone call with Shrewsbury, “Zach oscillated between apologizing for ‘making me uncomfortable’ and excusing his behavior as ‘I’m just a flirty guy, I didn’t mean anything by it,’ and ‘I just needed something to grab onto since the massage was so good.’”
The alleged incident is reported to have occurred at the residence of Chase Linko-Looper, a politician, and mutual acquaintance of Marrow and Shrewsbury. In addition to being home during the massage session, Marrow states, “Chase [was] sitting maybe ten feet away, facing the other direction.”
On Tuesday, Linko-Looper took to social media as well, posting a video, captioned, “I revoke my endorsement for Shrewsbury for Senate.”
“Zachary Shrewsbury was my friend for years, which makes this a painful step,” Linko-Looper states in the video. “What gives me strength, though, is the courage of the women who refuse to be silent.
At approximately 35-seconds into the one-minute, 15-second long video, Linko-Looper goes on to state, “When Zach crossed a line with a woman in our movement, he betrayed a trust that no friendship can excuse. Too often, power gets shielded while pain gets buried. That’s not who we are.”
“‘Fights Back’ was built to face harm directly, no matter who is responsible,” Linko-Looper adds.
As stated on the “Fights Back” private Facebook group page, of which both Marrow and Linko-Looper are administrators, “We’re not here to play respectable politics. This is the official organizing group for Fights Back chapters, crews, comrades, and community members across the country.”
On Friday, the West Virginia Mountain Party Women’s Caucus released Marrow’s statement, made directly to them:
“I’ve been feeling very thankful throughout this to the femmes with whom I’ve shared my story. Fellow femmes validated me when I struggled to validate myself and that’s what truly inspired me to come forward. We keep each other safe and I am deeply grateful for that.”
On Thursday, the West Virginia Democratic Party released a similar statement, although using softer language, and not mentioning any one candidate in particular:
“The West Virginia Democratic Party unequivocally condemns this type of conduct in the strongest terms. Anyone seeking the public trust should demonstrate respect and accountability in both words and actions.”
Clara Marrow stated, again through social media, “I am not interested in speaking to the press or engaging in interviews.” As such, RealWV made no attempt to contact her. An attempt to contact Shrewsbury at his last reported email address was returned as “underliverable/innactive.”
As of the time of writing, all statements made by each party named are publicly available on various social media platforms.
