Man Arrested In Latest DC Trans Shooting

I commented briefly on this latest incident involving a Washington DC transwoman being shot in our nation's capitol and it seems as though the DC Metro Police Department has the alleged perpetrator of it in custody.

According to the Washington Post and MPD officials, 20 year old northwest Washington resident Darryl Willard surrendered yesterday and was charged with assault with intent to kill while armed.

The unidentified transwoman he shot knew Willard and was wounded while walking in southeast DC.  She was hospitalized and is expected to survive the shooting.

In addition to that case MPD is still trying to determine whether the death of an unidentified person found unconscious, wearing makeup and carrying light colored heels on Sunday was due to foul play or natural causes. 

MPD is not only trying to determine if the aged 20-35 person who appears to be of Hispanic or Middle Eastern descent is a TBLG community member, but are awaiting results of a toxicology reports from the medical examiner's office.

It is part of a wave of incidents in recent weeks aimed at transpeople in the District of Columbia that has alarmed and raised concerns among District of Columbia TBLG community activists and trans community leaders such as Ruby Corado and Earline Budd.

"The transgender community is now in crisis." Corado stated at a Monday press conference called by the DC Metropolitan Police Department.

While this arrest is a step in helping to ease that crisis, it's fairly obvious that sustained comprehensive longterm action is needed to ratchet down the anti-trans hatred that is having deleterious effects on the lives of transpeople in our nation's capitol.

Teonna Brown To Be Sentenced For Maryland McBeatdown

19 year old Teonna Monae Brown will face Judge John Turnbull II today and learn her legal fate after she and a juvenile executed a horrific April 18 beatdown of transwoman Chrissy Lee Polis in a Rosedale, MD McDonalds.

The videotaped attack went viral on YouTube and has served as a rallying point for local Maryland and national trans activists to talk about anti-trans violence.  It also exposed how much race is in play as one of the dynamics in the trans community.

The case gave African American trans activists an opportunity to point out to our people that the disrespecting of transpeople and trans human rights needed to cease and desist and how much visceral hatred, discrimination and violence transpeople of all ethnic backgrounds are subjected to..

Brown was charged on May 16 and plead guilty in Baltimore County Circuit Court on August 4 to one count of first-degree assault and one hate crime count.  The juvenile in the attack was sentenced June 1 and is already serving time in a youth facility

Prosecutors are seeking a ten year sentence for Brown with five years suspended.

As I said in a earlier post, I hope Judge Turnbull adds to the juvenile and Brown's sentence the requirement that once she completes her jail time, both are sentenced to do a specified number of hours with a Baltimore area group that does community service working on behalf of transpeople and be required to attend a local Transgender Day of Remembrance ceremony as well..    

But I hope the bigger message that is sent is hat society will no longer tolerate attacks of any kind on transpeople

Update In Kenneth Furr Trans Shooting Case

I posted about the August 26 incident that escalated into a triple shooting in which off duty MPD cop Kenneth Furr had a verbal confrontation with a transwoman and friend outside a CVS store in NW Washington DC.   The transwomen and her friend got into a vehicle with three other people in the parking lot of the store at 400 Massachusetts Ave NW and left but were intercepted by Furr.

Turns out that Officer Furr was not only inebriated at the time, blowing a .15 during a breathalyzer test at the scene of the August 26 incident, but used his service weapon to fire five shots into their vehicle, wounding three of the five people inside it.  

The shell casings recovered from the triple shooting are consistent with the ammunition in Furr's weapon and issued to MPD police officers.

Furr is facing assault with a dangerous weapon charges and has been ordered to stand trial in DC Superior Court   He is also being held in jail until his next court appearance on October 7.

Will keep y'all posted.

Off Duty DC Cop Shoots At Transwomen

As I've stated more than a few times on this blog and had it demonstrated in various incidents, Officer Friendly is at times less than friendly when it comes to protecting and serving, much less respecting the civil and human rights of transpeople.

Don't even get me started talking how they feel about the human rights of transwomen of color.

Once again we get to shine a spotlight on Washington, D.C. and another incident in which transwomen minding their own business interact with an off duty DC cop and it ends up with negative consequences for the transwomen.

This time the perp was 20 year DC veteran po-po Kenneth Furr.   The August 26 incident started when the inebriated Furr approached a transwoman inside a northwest Washington DC CVS store at 5:25 AM EDT and solicited her for sex.   She turned him down and he kept hounding her until he was told by a man accompanying her into the store to leave her alone.  

The unidentified transwoman said in a Washington Post interview, "His eyes were bloodshot,” she said. “I could smell the liquor on his breath. He told me he wanted to pay me to have sex with me. He kept trying to get me in his car.” 

The woman and her friend left the store and got into a car with two other transwomen and a male friend and drove off.   At the corner of First and Pierce Streets NW they were hit from behind by a hostile Furr, who jumped out of his car with his Glock 9 gun drawn, jumped onto the hood of their vehicle and fired shots through the roof into it.

One of the transwomen was struck in the hand, another was grazed by a bullet while the brother of one of the transwomen sustained an injury serious enough to where he is in critical condition at George Washington University Hospital according to Transgender Health Empowerment's Jeri Hughes.

Washington DC Mayor Vincent Gray released a statement about the incident that that resulted in Officer Furr being stripped of his police powers.  He is also facing an investigation by MPD's Internal Affairs Division and the Force Investigation Team

Furr was arrested, charged with assault with a dangerous weapon and driving while intoxicated after blowing a .15 during his breath test.


"I am deeply troubled by the apparent circumstances surrounding this incident and await the results of a full MPD investigation,” Mayor Gray said. “These are serious charges, and they are particularly disturbing to have been brought against one who is sworn to protect and serve.”

The disturbing early morning incident led to a 6:30 PM rally organized by THE.and the DC Trans Coalition that was attended by Mayor Gray, local TBLG activists, MPD deputy chief Diane Groomes and 70 people at the First and Pierce Streets location where it occurred..

It was a miracle that as serious as this latest incident was, no one died.  But something transphobic has been brewing in the MPD police culture for some time and Chief Cathy Lanier needs to get to the bottom of it.

If she can't or she's getting resistance, then maybe the Department of Justice needs to get busy taking a look at what's going on in MPD and start cleaning out the transphobic rotten apples.

Transphobia is bad enough in the general population.   It's even worse and can have potentially fatal consequences when it's hiding behind a badge.

Suspect In Camila Guzman Killing Arrested

Have some good news to report in the Camila Guzman case.

25 year old Equan Southall, the reported boyfriend of Guzman for the last four months, was arrested and charged with her murder

As of yet NYPD has not reported a motive for the killing, but I'll be passing along info on this case as I receive it.

Guzman moved to the United States from Chile nine years ago in order to be able to transition, and was recently memorialized by local activists and friends outside her east Harlem home last week in a vigil organized by the Anti-Violence project.

"She came to the United States and she was herself. She lived her dreams," said M. Dru Levasseur, transgender rights attorney for Lambda Legal at the Guzman vigil. "And she should not have been killed for that."

Damn right she shouldn't have been.   May Camila receive justice for what was done to her.