Photo: Facebook / Muyhlaysia Booker
Dallas Police are investigating a hate crime against a transgender woman, who was beaten to a pulp by an angry mob last Friday, following a minor traffic accident. Footage of the incident was posted to social media, where it has since gone viral.
The attack occurred in the parking lot of Royal Crest Apartments Dallas, Texas, but the video posted to Facebook doesn’t include the traffic accident. However, BuzzFeed News reports that it was “minor” and was most likely used solely as an excuse to attack the woman, identified as 23-year-old Muhlaysia Booker.
Based on the footage, police have already arrested 29-year-old Edward Thomas on a charge of aggravated assault, which is being treated as a hate crime. They say more arrests could follow in the next days, as there were more men who punched and kicked Booker while she was down – even though initially there was just one assailant.
The video is available at the link, but please be advised that it is of graphic nature.
In a statement posted to Facebook, Mayor Mike Rawlings of Dallas, says his office is working closely with the police to find the people responsible.
“I am in contact with the chief and she assured me that the Dallas Police Department is fully investigating, including the possibility that this was a hate crime,” Rawlings says. “Those who did this do not represent how Dallasites feel about our thriving LGBTQ community. We will not stand for this kind of behavior.”
Booker was driven to the hospital by a few female eyewitnesses, who intervened on her behalf and took her to a car. She was hospitalized for facial fractures and a broken right arm, but she says she is happy she’s alive after what she’d been through.
Her father and grandmother have told the media that she’d been target of hatred for being transgender before, but it was never this bad.
Based on the footage, police have already arrested 29-year-old Edward Thomas on a charge of aggravated assault, which is being treated as a hate crime. They say more arrests could follow in the next days, as there were more men who punched and kicked Booker while she was down – even though initially there was just one assailant.
The video is available at the link, but please be advised that it is of graphic nature.
In a statement posted to Facebook, Mayor Mike Rawlings of Dallas, says his office is working closely with the police to find the people responsible.
“I am in contact with the chief and she assured me that the Dallas Police Department is fully investigating, including the possibility that this was a hate crime,” Rawlings says. “Those who did this do not represent how Dallasites feel about our thriving LGBTQ community. We will not stand for this kind of behavior.”
Booker was driven to the hospital by a few female eyewitnesses, who intervened on her behalf and took her to a car. She was hospitalized for facial fractures and a broken right arm, but she says she is happy she’s alive after what she’d been through.
Her father and grandmother have told the media that she’d been target of hatred for being transgender before, but it was never this bad.
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