Image copyright YouTube / CHCH Image caption A police officer approaches the man who yelled an obscenity at a reporter from his vehicle

An American has been charged by Canadian police for shouting a sexually explicit phrase at a female journalist.

Fawaz Abudhamad, 23, was charged with causing a public disturbance in Hamilton, Ontario.

The Maryland native shouted the obscenity as he drove by Britt Dixon, who was interviewing police outside of their local headquarters on Friday.

The reporter asked him why he did it, to which he responded: "Because everyone in the States does it".

In 2015, a rude football fan shouted the phrase at a sports reporter outside a Toronto FC match. An ensuing social media storm ended up costing the public employee his job.

The reporter, who works for a local television station, said she did not wish to press charges, but the police did because they saw it happen.

The man has been released from police custody and will appear before a judge on Monday 4 December.

The man shouted "I want to [expletive] you right in the [expletive]" as a he drove by - a vulgar phrase that has gained popularity online in recent years.

She said it was the third time someone has shouted that at her in the past week.

"I was like what? Again? In front of a police officer?" Dixon told local newspaper the Hamilton Spectator.