TONIGHT AT 6PM! EMERGENCY RALLY IN RESPONSE TO TRANSPHOBIC POLICE VIOLENCE
August 26, 2011
by dctranscoalition
http://dctranscoalition.wordpress.com/2011/08/26/tonight-at-6pm-emergency-rally-in-response-to-transphobic-police-violence/Today, we were notified by the Metropolitan Police Department of a shooting involving transgender individuals in the area of First and Pierce Streets NW around 5:30 AM this morning. We are still attempting to gather information, but preliminary accounts indicate two vehicles collided at the site, one driven by an off-duty MPD officer, and the other containing five people, two of whom are trans. The off-duty officer fired his service weapon at the three people in the other car, hitting one victim three times, and one victim one time. Community activists have visited the two trans women in the hospital, where they were treated for non-life threatening injuries. We have learned that the shooter and at least one victim may have known each other previously, and had an altercation at a nearby store before the shooting, but we do not yet know the nature of their relationship.
We are gathering at 6PM at the site of the incident to demand accountability and transparency from MPD on the clear trend of transphobic and homophobic actions coming from its officers. This incident is just another in a long line of systemic violence that trans women, and particularly trans women of color, face on a daily basis.
