A middle school teacher who entered the national spotlight after surveillance video showed two women groping and twerking on him last month is speaking out, saying he was afraid for his life and that what viewers saw "is not what happened at all.

Washington Tharpe, 40, told local outlet ABC7 News that he was just trying to pay for his gas at a Washington, D.C., convenience store on Oct. 7, and that the surveillance video that went viral captured just a portion of the terrifying encounter.

The Tuesday interview with ABC7 is the first time Tharpe has publicly identified himself as the victim and told the full story of the convenience store incident.