Professional twerker Geri Hoops says she was stripped naked and raped by US border agents at airport
A professional twerker from Chile, Geraldine Rodriguez Olivares, has alleged that two US immigration officers gang-raped her after being refused entry into Puerto Rico.
Socially knowns as ‘Geri Hoops’, the twerker claimed that the two agents took her to a private room, forced her to twerk while dollar bills were thrown at her and slapped her butt.
The alleged incident happened on February 16 at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan when she was returning from an international tour as reported by the Miami Herald. The 31-year-old dancer, who is a celebrity at her homeland and has more than 1.4 million followers on Instagram, was flying back home after dancing in a music video for a Puerto Rican singer.
Olivares, who was traveling with a friend, said when they approached the US Customs office counter, they were asked to wait in the CBP waiting area but were not given any reason for the same. “They wouldn’t tell us why we were being held and kept telling us to sit back down. We kept seeing people come in, get patted down, and then leave. But not us,” she added.
However, after some time an agent at the counter called her and told her he knew her and watches her Instagram videos. He said he has also seen her on TV and heard on the radio. He also showed her a printed Instagram flyer advertising her twerking class at a local dance studio.
And, shortly after that, both the women were called for checking but taken to two different rooms, where they were patted down by two female officers as per customs regulations. But officers told her she could not be permitted to enter the US as she should have traveled on a work visa, not on a tourist visa, citing her social media posts as proof she had been working.
Recalling her traumatic experience, Olivares alleged that the officers let her friend go but told her to wait as she needed to be checked for drugs by two male officers. Confused and terrorized as she had already been patted down by the female officers, she panicked and told the officers, “If you’re going to rape me, kill me.”
Olivares was taken to a private room by the two officers where she was allegedly forced to twerk before being stripped naked, humiliated and assaulted. Her face was pressed against a wall while one officer allegedly pulled down his pants zipper to put on a condom and the other wore blue gloves and put his fingers inside her. She said that the two agents took turns to rape her.
The twerker claimed that after some time a third officer came and put clothes onto her and took her to a cot, where she passed out. When she woke up, she was handcuffed and sent back to the Dominican Republic. She sought help after reaching Santo Domingo and now Chilean prosecutors are looking into her accusations while deciding what course of action to take.
It has also been reported that Olivares is now undergoing psychological treatment as the alleged incident left her suicidal. She has opened about her trauma in an Instagram post too, saying: “To tell the truth, when I came back the only solution I could see was to kill myself. My family, friends, and boyfriend helped me a lot so I wouldn't do anything.”
However, on the other hand, San Juan Customs and Border Patrol Spokesman Jeffrey Quiñones has denied any misconduct by the officers. He said, “Once this allegation was brought to the attention of our management officers, an investigation was conducted, which included the review of camera footage during her stay within our CBP facility. We did not find misconduct by any of our officers to support Ms Hoop’s accusation.”