Transgender-rights activist accused of fighting with Manhattan court officers after videotaping in lobby

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/transgender-rights-activist-fights-nyc-court-officers-article-1.2585011

New York Daily News/By Shayna Jacobs, John Annese  / Friday, April 1, 2016, 9:06 AM

"Schwartz, Michael

Mariah Lopez allegedly got into a scuffle with Manhattan Supreme Court officers after using her cell phone to record video in the lobby on Thursday.

A transgender-rights activist is accused of videotaping without permission in a Manhattan courthouse lobby, then fighting with court officers.

Mariah Lopez, 30, scuffled with officers outside of Manhattan Supreme Court on Thursday, the same day James Dixon was slated to appear in court to face manslaughter charges in the 2013 beating death of Islan Nettles, a transgender woman."

As Trial Begins, Advocates Rally For Slain Transgender Woman

By Sylvia Cunningham, 4/2/16

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/trial-begins-advocates-rally-slain-transgender-woman-n548871

Brooklyn resident James Dixon was taken to the 32nd precinct, read his Miranda rights and interviewed by detectives, testified Detective Heriberto Vasquez in court on Thursday.

Dixon's written statements, read in their entirety by Vasquez in court, contradicted one another when it came to what instigated the violence, but a key confession remained the same: in both, Dixon said he punched Islan Nettles so she fell to the ground, slamming her head on the pavement.

Supporters of Islan Nettles gathered outside the Criminal Courts Building on Thursday. Sylvia Cunningham
Despite the existence of these statements, recorded just one day before Islan Nettles was taken off life support, it took 18 months before Dixon was arrested and charged with first-degree and second-degree manslaughter as well as assault in the first degree.

Before the hearing began, more than a dozen people, including transgender women, LGBT advocates and employees from the New York City Anti-Violence Project gathered in front of the Criminal Courts Building, later filing into a courtroom at 111 Centre St. to show solidarity with Islan Nettles.

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This article goes into more detail about what the protest was about.

Man Accused of Killing Trans Woman Says He Was 'Tricked by a Transgender'

by Diana Tourjee

April 1 2016

https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/man-accused-of-killing-trans-woman-says-he-was-tricked-by-a-transgender

In the case of Islan Nettles, she was walking with her trans sisters when a group of young men flirtatiously engaged them, as young men sometimes do women. But something happened in between their catcalls and the moment Nettles fell to, and was beat against, the pavement: the men realized she and her friends were transgender. At least, that's the story detailed in a confession written by Dixon that was read aloud by the detective to whom he confessed in 2013.

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Another perspective on this story from someone who was in the courtroom.

It wasn't real smart for her to walk into a court house with cops everywhere and a joint in her pocket.

I met Mariah Lopez just 2 or 3 weeks ago at a Transgender Media open forum and she was in the audience. I'm not surprised as she was very vocal about the Dixon case. She is rightfully upset and angry, but she has also taken it out on others that are innocent and even those that are trying to help our community and those in the community that she feels is privileged.