Shooting of Dallas Transgender Woman was Hate Crime, Police Say
Police in Dallas say a transgender woman was seriously wounded after being shot several times and they are investigating the attack as a hate crime.
Investigators say a man driving a pickup truck pulled alongside the woman late Friday, yelled slurs about her gender identity and fired several times, striking her in the chest and arm.
Authorities say the woman’s injuries prevented her from speaking with them until Sunday when she relayed details of the shooting.
Police are searching for a red four-door pickup with large wheel rims, and released images and details of the crime on their website. The Dallas Police Department is offering a $5,000 reward for any information that leads to an arrest and indictment.
Friday’s shooting follows three fatal attacks on transgender women in Texas this year — two in Dallas. Weeks after her beating was caught on tape, Muhlaysia Booker, 23, was found shot dead in Dallas on May 18, and a 33-year-old man was arrested in connection with her death and the deaths of two other women. Chynal Lindsey, 26, was found dead in a Dallas lake on June 1, and a 22-year-old man was arrested as a suspect in her killing. Tracy Single, 22, was killed in Houston on July 30, and a 25-year-old man was arrested in connection with her death.
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At least 18 transgender women of color, including the three in Texas, have been murdered so far in 2019, according to a count maintained by the Human Rights Campaign.
The issue of violence against transgender women of color has become an issue in the 2020 presidential campaign. At an LGBTQ Presidential Forum in Iowa on Friday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., drew attention to the violence faced by transgender women of color by reading their names as part of her opening statement.
We do not talk enough about trans Americans, especially trans African Americans and the especially high rates of murder right now. It’s not enough just to be on the Equality Act, we need to have a president who will fight to protect LGBTQ Americans every day. #DemDebate9,8917:33 PM – Jun 26, 2019Twitter Ads info and privacy2,199 people are talking about this
Two other Senate Democrats running for president, Kamala Harris of California and Cory Booker of New Jersey, have used their social media platforms to speak out on the issue, and Booker brought up the issue in the Democratic debate in Miami in June.
“We do not talk enough about trans Americans, especially trans African Americans and the especially high rates of murder right now,” Booker tweeted soon after that debate. “It’s not enough just to be on the Equality Act, we need to have a president who will fight to protect LGBTQ Americans every day.”