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FHRITP, Obscene Prank, Disrespects Reporters On Calgary's Red Mile

"When you yell FHRITP into my mic, I feel violated, not amused."

With the Calgary Flames now in full playoff mode, a disgusting prank has descended on the city's notorious "Red Mile."

Two journalists have been subject to the obscene "joke" in the past week, while covering playoff-related stories on 17th Avenue Southwest.

It first happened to Global Calgary's Stefan Keyes last week while reporting outside the Ship and Anchor Pub.

A YouTube video of the incident shows Keyes interrupted by a passerby who grabs his microphone, yelling, ""F--- her right in the pussy. Go, Flames, go."

On Sunday night, while reporting on post-game activities on the busy Calgary strip, Calgary Herald reporter Erika Stark said her microphone was also grabbed from her on two separate occasions, and the same words yelled.

Other members of the media in Calgary responded, letting Stark know that they, too, have been victims of the prank.

The "joke" originated last year in the U.S., and has been popping up in broadcasts across Canada ever since.

Reporters in Montreal, St. John's, Toronto, and Vancouver have spoken out against the prank and the imitators responsible for the verbal abuse.

CBC Montreal reporter Morgan Dunlop was yelled at while covering a protest late last year. She wrote on CBC.ca the "phrase is abusive. Maybe it has been shouted at men as well, but the wording clearly targets and objectifies women."

Stark documented similar feelings in a Storify, explaining:

Some people on Twitter responded... telling us that "it's a joke," "it's meant to be funny," and explanations like that. Here's the thing. When you invade my space , grab my mic and yell that, you're not just disrespecting me as a working journalist. You're disrespecting and harming me as an indiviual [sic.] And in this case, you're disrespecting someone who has survived sexual assault. When you yell FHRITP into my mic, I feel violated, not amused. I think of my assault, not a joke.

Read Stark's full account, in her own words, here:

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