The plaintive cry of a transwoman in between savage beatings as two teen girls in Baltimore respond to her mere presence with extreme violence. It seems this individual, who is clearly presenting as female, regardless of her personal identity or legal sex, attempted to use the bathroom deemed socially appropriate for her at the time. The results were violent and potentially lethal.
The manager, employees, and other customers, with a single ineffective exemption, look on, laughing, shouting, commenting to one another - and of course, filming with cell phones, which is how we get the privilege of watching this entire horrifying incident unfold.
THIS POST will continue to be updated as more news and information develop, so please check back occasionally. New posts will appear at the bottom. Occasionally I will add commentary. I do encourage your comments, questions, and input - anonymously if necessary.
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The original tipoff
Source: Buck Angel's tumblr (microblog)
Date/Time: 22 April; ~12:00
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Original post identifying the victim as trans
Source:
Date/Time:
Source:
Date/Time:
Commentary:
http://pajamasmedia.com/tatler/2011/04/22/nearly-everyone-in-this-video-is-a-criminal-or-an-accessory-to-a-crime/
Source:
Date/Time:
NewsOne:
http://newsone.com/nation/newsonestaff2/mcdonalds-girl-beat-up-seizure/
Original source:
http://worldstarhiphop.com/videos/video.php?v=wshhiHb913Lf4TpU4q5m
Other report:
http://www.brokencountry.com/index.php/2011/04/22/mcdonalds-beating-video/
Viralization report:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-ci-viral-video-mcdonalds-20110422,0,4613709.story
Further reporting and commentary:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ec0_1303444048
Public identification of the person responsible for filming the assault:
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/buster/mcdonalds/mcdonalds-employee-filmed-brutal-beating-640128
Bilerico:
http://www.bilerico.com/2011/04/transwoman_severely_beaten_at_baltimore_mcdonalds.php
With information on how to contact McDonald's and let them know what you think.
(Glad I never eat at this establishment anyway. Their history is worse than their "food".)
From a Twitter feed:
http://twitter.com/#!/BeerInBaltimore
"County police confirm that the beating happened April 18 at a McDonald's in Rosedale, in the 6300 block of Kenwood Ave."
Attempted to reach media figures for comment. (Waste of Skype credit.) This is the latest official comment from their website:
http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/media_center/Media_Contacts.html
Commentary on racialized aspects of the incident:
http://www.tmrzoo.com/2011/24079
Attackers officially face charges:
http://essex.patch.com/articles/teen-charged-adult-sought-as-video-of-attack-goes-viral#youtube_video-5759303
All in:
http://www.abc2news.com/dpp/news/crime_checker/baltimore_county_crime/woman-injured-after-mcdonald%27s-beating
The victim was 22. I'm 22. Just thought I'd make the story that much more Human:
http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/3ce4f4a2eac048d9b63818c3b772855c/MD--Videotaped-Beating/
More reporting:
http://missjia.com/video-girl-seizure-jumped-baltimore-mcdonalds.html
updated version from miss jia
http://missjia.com/update-video-girl-baltimore-mcdonalds.html
More reports, victim's condition unconfirmed:
http://www.wbaltv.com/r/27640819/detail.html
Question of Hackett's claims, no police response:
http://planetfreedom.org/?p=157451
Just like to point something else out. Regardless of whether the victim is "really trans" or not, we MUST look to the responses provided by the man who posted this video originally - a one Charm Hackett - who claims that "that wasn't really a woman, that was a man". Even if this is a case of mistaken identity, the implications are clear. If you're trans - or even suspected of being trans, but especially if you ARE trans - and you get beaten for using the "wrong" restroom, you deserve it.
Interesting debate flares up on forums:
http://www.politicalforum.com/current-events/182756-violence-another-mc-donalds-almost-kills-customer-12.html
2:
http://www.sternfannetwork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=600533
Joe My God takes up the story:
http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2011/04/maryland-trans-woman-brutally-attacked.html
more queer reporting:
http://wamarriage.org/2011/04/transwoman-severely-beaten-at-baltimore-mcdonalds-while-employees-watch/
Daily Mail:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1379691/Caught-camera-Shocking-moment-girl-beaten-point-seizure-McDonalds-staff-idly-watch-on.html
first use of "hate crime"
http://www.abc2news.com/dpp/news/crime_checker/baltimore_county_crime/woman-injured-after-mcdonald%27s-beating
http://www.wpix.com/wpix-teen-brutally-beaten-at-mcdonalds,0,5375468.story
http://business.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474979253699
http://lgbtweekly.com/2011/04/23/transgender-maryland-woman-beaten-in-balitimore-mcdonalds/
PETITION:
http://www.change.org/petitions/demand-that-the-employees-on-duty-at-mcdonalds-be-held-responsible-in-the-beating-of-a-trans-woman
http://news.google.com/news/more?pz=1&cf=all&ned=us&cf=all&ncl=dWgI5tKlUQ7uJ2MM_iKo_zh7kircM
http://news.google.com/news/more?pz=1&cf=all&ned=us&cf=all&ncl=dAKkkJDFAlFeBGMC_sH9FJblHbKoM
Now she's a "male cross-dresser"
http://nation.foxnews.com/culture/2011/04/22/smoking-gun-woman-beat-mcdonald-s-was-male-cross-dresser
http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/local/110422-video-brutal-beating-leaves-woman-convulsing
BALTIMORE POLICE REPORT [PDF]
http://media2.myfoxdc.com//documents/McDonaldsBeatingPoliceReport.pdf
http://lezgetreal.com/2011/04/trans-woman-brutally-attacked-at-baltimore-mcdonalds/
http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2011/04/baltimore-police-investigate-brutal-attack-on-trans-woman-at-local-mcdonalds/
http://yesbuthowever.com/baltimore-mcdonalds-beating-cross-dresser-500746/
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2014851073_apusvideotapedbeatingmaryland.html
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/smallscreen/news/article_1634724.php/Maryland-woman-beaten-to-seizure-by-two-women-in-McDonalds-VIDEO
^^a lot of damned invasive ads in this article^^
http://metroweekly.com/poliglot/2011/04/trans-woman-assaulted-at-mcdon.html
http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2011/04/22/video-shows-woman-being-beaten-at-baltimore-co-mcdonalds/
http://oneclick.indiatimes.com/article/07epdFvaRHf0t?q=McDonald%27s
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/update-mcdonalds-releases-statement-regarding-horrific-beating-video/
Update:
I only just managed to watch this video a second time. The first time I watched it all the way through was around 2:30 this afternoon, and it shook me up so badly. It took awhile to transmute my feelings into anger and channel that energy into tracking the story, something I hope will prove productive. So I've only seen it once, and here I am about 9 hours later trying to watch it again. I wanted to go back and verify some of the things I thought I saw or heard the first time around. Such as the victim's query "where am I supposed to go then?" at about 1:00 in (which, if she is trans, and we interpret this incident as the girls telling her not to use the women's restroom, makes sense). I'm also seeing new things. If you go to the video, around the 1:40 marker, in the middle of the older woman attempting to intervene, you can see the poor girl gripping the woman's leg in desperation. Also, it sounds like the manager is the one who probably called the police who eventually arrived on the scene. Which also makes sense and makes some of his actions earlier in the video clearer. There may not have been much he could have done to actually stop the violence, and with at least one of the attackers being an underage girl, he likely did not want to put himself in a situation where he appears to have assaulted a child. Unfortunate as it was for the victim, he did more or less the right thing by going to call the police as quickly as possible.
I'm making lots of assumptions here, of course.
UPDATES:
Employee who filmed now fired, victim identified:
http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2011/04/mcdonalds-fires-employee-who-recorded-brutal-beating-of-transgender-woman/
YouTube video from Gay Family Values analyzing original video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mf12dGhJalE
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/buster/mcdonalds/mcdonalds-fires-employee-who-filmed-beating-102975
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-mcdonalds-video-20110423,0,1302714.story
VICTIM SPEAKS ON HER EXPERIENCE:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-mcdonalds-beating-20110423,0,3336656.story
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1379691/Transgender-girl-beaten-seizure-McDonalds-attack-victim-hate-crime.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/04/23/2011-04-23_mcdonalds_beating_video_victim_is_transgender_maryland_attack_is_hate_crime_says.html?r=news
Interesting (and frustrating, especially considering the nature of some of the comments here) take on the incident:
http://100waystogetrevenge.wordpress.com/2011/04/23/how-to-get-revenge-mcdonalds-beating-gets-more-confusing/
Another blogger weighs in, while racism and sexism abound:
http://www.occidentaldissent.com/2011/04/23/black-run-america-mcdonalds-victim-was-a-tranny-prostitute-chrissy-lee-polis/
http://www.examiner.com/strange-news-in-national/fight-at-baltimore-mcdonald-s-may-be-handled-as-hate-crime-video
http://unicornbooty.com/2011/04/transgender-woman-beaten-into-a-seizure-at-mcdonalds/
Just another reporting:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/23/2182322/mcdonalds-in-md-to-probe-response.html
http://unicornbooty.com/2011/04/transgender-woman-beaten-into-a-seizure-at-mcdonalds/
https://news.change.org/stories/mcdonalds-employees-beat-that-trans-woman
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/abraham/detail?entry_id=87630
HEAR THE VICTIM HERSELF:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-mcdonalds-beating-20110423,0,3336656.story
http://www.metroweekly.com/poliglot/2011/04/trans-woman-assaulted-at-mcdon.html
http://metroweekly.com/poliglot/2011/04/vigil-planned-for-physically-a.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1380506/Teonna-Monae-Brown-18-charged-McDonalds-attack-transgendered-girl.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
