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transexual bashing by memphis police caught on video
check out this interesting story – the moral is, don’t get busted for alleged prostitution in memphis … well, probably not a good idea to get busted for anything. admittedly, this may have been an isolated incident, but to me, it shows there is a long way to general acceptance in our comunities. i suspect this would not have happened to a gg.
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4 Replies
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just in case you haven’t caught the follow up …
i suppose we all hope for fairy tale endings … triumph of the justice system over hatred and bigotry. nothing of the sort here. and i trust that we are not so hung up on spelling mistakes that we can dismiss this story as something that has nothing to do with us. or ignore it as something that only happens in america.
if we are afraid to venture out because of any ridicule we may face, or be sprung by anyone who knows of our drab personnas, think again.
there are a whole bunch of new risks that we take once we venture beyond the front gate. but let these things not stop us. we have a right to be who we are, and we should not suffer any discriminatory acts against us, no matter how small a proportion of anti-trans violence may take place as a number of antisocial incidents that occur, or how “safe” we in australia (for we are young and free) may feel from those dangers of racism, homophobia and transphobia. if we don’t speak up or try to make changes, we will be trapped at the front gate forever …
tomorrow is transgender day of remembrance. light a candle. duanna was our sista.
See:
or google duanna johnson
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I watched the video of what happened to her…. just horrible.
Glad that the cops were booted from the service.
She is dead now… got shot by a neighbour.
Sad to hear another trans life lost.
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a follow up to this story …
and robyn, duanna was not killed by a neighbour – nobody has ever been convicted of her killing.
anyway, a case of plea bargaining, the perpetrator of duanna’s assualt, has agreed to two years – probably able to be reduced on account of “good behaviour”. justice? make up your own minds:
Quote:A former Memphis police officer charged with beating a transgender prisoner in 2008 pleaded guilty Thursday to federal civil rights violations involving bodily injury and agreed to a two-year prison sentence.Bridges “Sutton” McRae was tried earlier this year, but jurors told the judge they could not reach a unanimous verdict after 20 hours of deliberations. One juror said the vote was 11-1 for guilty.
McRae, who was facing up to 10 years in prison if convicted on all counts, was scheduled to be retried next month.
“We came to terms we could both agree with, the defense and the prosecution, that were fair and reasonable,” defense attorney Bill Massey said after a change-of-plea hearing before U.S. Dist. Court Judge S. Thomas Anderson.
Both sides agreed that a two-year prison sentence would be appropriate, but the judge will have the final word at a sentencing hearing in January.
McRae, 30, admitted violating the civil rights of Dwayne “Duanna” Johnson, who was being booked into the Shelby County Jail in February 2008 after being arrested for prostitution.
A surveillance tape showed McRae wrapping his handcuffs around his fist and punching Johnson in the head and then using his pepper spray.
Federal prosecutor Jonathan Skrmetti told the court that Johnson sustained cuts and bruises.
When asked by the judge if he did those things, McRae replied, “Yes, sir.”
McRae testified in trial in April that Johnson became upset and uncooperative during the fingerprinting process because he was referring to Johnson as Dwayne instead of Duanna.
The officer said that when he tried to get the 6-foot-5, 250-pound Johnson to stand up, Johnson pushed, slapped and scratched him and that he responded in self-defense.
Another officer testified that McRae told him afterward, “I love to fight.”
Johnson, 43 was shot to death in November 2008 in North Memphis in a case that has not been solved.
In Thursday’s hearing, Skrmetti also said McRae has agreed to plead guilty to a tax-evasion matter as part of the settlement. Massey said later that a plea would not affect the agreed-on two-year sentence.
Under the plea agreement, federal prosecutors will ask Anderson to recommend that McRae be sent to a minimum-security federal prison camp.
The judge said he could do that, but told McRae the federal Bureau of Prisons has the final word on where he will serve his sentence.
from the commercial appeal, memphis:
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/aug/26/former-memphis-police-officer-pleads-guilty-beatin/
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Quote:a follow up to this story …
anyway, a case of plea bargaining, the perpetrator of duanna’s assualt, has agreed to two years – probably able to be reduced on account of “good behaviour”. justice? make up your own minds:
No justice at all. The video itself should have resulted in more charges being pressed just for being present and not doing anything. It is clear from the video, blatantly clear, that the officer beat someone for no good reason… Even if the prisoner is verbally abusing an officer in the civilised world that officer is not permitted to use anything but necessary force to restrain the person. It just goes to show that a large part of the Western world is not civilised, regardless of what that part might think of themselves. The fact the Duanna’s injuries were visible, not to mention the pepper spraying, and yet she went unattended by any of the 8-9(ish) officers shows a clear disregard for basic human rights. It plays out as a scene from China or Afganistan, not the United States of America.
Michelle
