Video Journalist Who Kicked Refugees Apologizes After Losing Her Job

The Hungarian camerawoman, who gained notoriety this week after kicking and tripping refugees, apologized, despite her insistence she was acting in self-defense.

Petra Laszlo, who worked for a channel aligned with Hungary's extreme right-wing Jobbik party, wrote a letter to Hungarian newspaper Magyar Nemzet in an attempt to clear her name.

Earlier this week, Laszlo was fired when a video of her tripping a fleeing father and his young child went viral.

The incident took place at a refugee relocation camp in Röszke, Hungary, just steps from the Serbian border.

Migrants housed there became tired of the harsh, unfavorable conditions and held an uprising, eventually breaking free from the camp and fleeing.

In her letter, Laszlo, who is currently the subject of a police investigation, claimed,

I was scared as the crowd rushed toward me, and then something snapped in me. I'm not a heartless, racist, children-kicking camerawoman. I do not deserve the political witch hunts against me, nor the smears or often the death threats. I'm just a woman, and now an unemployed mother of small children, who made a bad decision in a situation of panic. I am truly sorry.

The controversy came on the heels of a UN proposal to relocate up to 200,000 migrants to safe places throughout Europe.

The proposal received support from some, but opposition and resistance from many others. But, even that will only be a small relief for the millions of migrants currently fleeing war zones and authoritarian regimes.

Citations: Hungarian Camerawoman Petra Laszlo Apologizes for Kicking Migrants (The New York Times), Migrant crisis: EU 'must accept 200,000 refugees', UN says (BBC)