The National Black Justice Coalition Demands Answers From DC Police After Trans Woman Violently Attacked at Local Laundromat
CONTACT: Anna Zuccaro | anna@unbendablemedia.com
WASHINGTON, DC — Last Sunday, a Black transgender woman was violently attacked and stabbed at a city laundromat in the District of Columbia. A video of the attack was posted to social media, showing three people — a man and two women — surrounding the victim, punching, and hitting her as they slam her against one of the machines.
After police arrived, the victim told them that she had been stabbed in the head, and said that her attackers had used anti-LGBTQ+ slurs while they assaulted her.
The Washington, DC Metro Police Department says the matter of whether the attack is a hate crime is currently under investigation.
In response, David J. Johns, executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC), issued the following statement:
“Writing reactionary statements like this does not feel more normal or get easier with time — it never will. Our trans sisters are under attack on a regular basis. Yet the state governments, the federal government, and local police forces have done virtually nothing to address the issue, which has continued to fester throughout the nation for the entire year.
“That these attacks are routinely recorded and shared across digital platforms is as problematic as what have become normalized recordings of police murders of Black people. We should be ever mindful of the lack of safe space that so many Black people have access to and collectively remain committed to ending transphobic violence.
“We urge the DC Metro Police Department to be fully transparent with this investigation and name this egregious act of violence for what it is immediately: a hate crime.
“The trans community needs our help. This is a matter of life and death. As Pride month continues, we must step up and speak out in the name of the basic human right to physical safety for trans people.”
Learn more about reducing gender based violence here and here.
Learn more about changing local laws and increasing protections for trans and non-binary community members here.
Learn more about NBJC’s Stolen Lives list of trans and non-binary individuals lost to senseless violence and hate here.
