A group of men surrounded and beat a transgender woman in Dallas on Friday afternoon, repeatedly punching and kicking her in broad daylight as she tried to escape an attack that police are calling a possible hate crime. "Officers spoke with the victim, a Transgender female, who had been assaulted by known suspects," a statement from the Dallas Police Department said. "The victim stated that the suspects used homophobic slurs during the assault." The incident began after Muhlaysia Booker was in a minor traffic accident at the Royal Crest Apartments, police said.. Video posted by Facebook user Taj Mahal begins by showing Booker, in a pink wig, in the middle of an intersection with a huge crowd around her. It appeared as though Booker was addressing the crowd — she said later on Facebook that someone had taken her two phones — but because she was far from the camera and it was loud, it's unclear what she said. The video then seems to flip to selfie mode, where two people address the camera — the person taking the video and a man in a white shirt and shorts. "Fuck that ho," someone can be heard saying. "Knock 'em out," the man in the white shirt appears to say. The video then flips around and shows the man in a white shirt closing in on Booker, pummeling her to the ground and kicking her. Booker tries to shield her face with her arms as other men joined in, kicking her when they got a chance. Women in the crowd beg the men to stop, and Booker struggles to her feet, but the man wearing white pulls her backward and punches her in the face again and again. Once Booker lurches to a patch of grass, several women intervene to carry her away. "Carry that bitch out," someone can be heard saying. "Lame ass, faggot ass, [unintelligible] bitch," a woman can be heard yelling toward the end of the footage. The video doesn't show the lead-up to the assault and cuts off as Booker is being helped by others. Police confirmed the incident was captured on video. Taj told BuzzFeed News he had heard a commotion while driving through the neighborhood and "happened to stop by" when assault began — later saying Booker was his close friend. In a follow-up message, he said he was her manager. He claimed he shot footage, but then, when asked about the apparent assailant appearing on camera with the cameraman, he said he instead obtained the video from the person who shot it. He also claimed it is two videos spliced together. At a Dallas area hospital late Friday night, Police interviewed Booker and reported they are “reviewing all available evidence to determine if it will be classified as a hate crime.” Booker had facial fractures and her right arm is in a sling after the incident, a family member told WFAA. "He's a coward," Booker's father, Pierre, told NBC-DFW, adding that his daughter has faced hatred in the past for being transgender. "All I tell them you know is I love them. I love them for whoever they are. And I'm not God, I'm not the judge, I'm not the jury," Booker's grandmother told NBC-DFW.<doc-sep>DALLAS -- Police canvassed a Dallas neighbourhood during the weekend in search of anyone who may have witnessed the brutal beating of a transgender woman in an attack that happened in broad daylight in front of a crowd of people and that was caught on cellphone video. Detectives were seeking clues in hopes of identifying the woman's assailant or assailants, police said in a statement. They said the woman reported the assault while receiving hospital treatment Friday night. She told officers the attack happened earlier Friday after she was involved in a minor traffic accident near an apartment complex in the southern part of Dallas, according to the police statement released Saturday. A purported video of the attack posted on Facebook shows a man in a white shirt viciously beating the woman, apparently into unconsciousness, while the crowd looks on and homophobic slurs are shouted. Several women eventually carried the victim's limp body to safety. A Dallas police spokesman said the woman's identity and further information about the case would not be released Sunday. Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said he is "extremely angry about what appears to be mob violence against this woman" and that those responsible do not represent how most residents feel about the city's "thriving LGBTQ community." "I am in contact with (Police Chief U. Renee Hall) and she assured me that the Dallas Police Department is fully investigating, including the possibility that this was a hate crime," Rawlings, who has viewed the video, said in a statement Saturday. Last November, the FBI reported that 7,175 hate crimes were committed in the United States in 2017, the most recent year for which the agency had compiled data. Of those, 1,130 were based on sexual orientation bias and 119 on gender identity bias. The data showed a 5% increase in hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation bias and a 4% decrease in hate crimes motivated by gender identity bias. Of crimes motivated by gender identity bias, 106 targeted transgender people, a 1% increase from 2016. Warning: This video contains graphic footage.<doc-sep>Police arrested a suspect in connection with the brutal beating of a transgender woman caught on camera in Dallas. Friday, the woman was involved in a minor traffic accident at an apartment complex in Dallas, according to police. "Known suspects" using homophobic slurs then beat her in an incident described by Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings as "mob violence." The Dallas Police Department said it was investigating the case as a hate crime. Sunday, police arrested Edward Thomas, 29, for his role in the assault. Video posted on social media shows a man dressed in white pushing a woman to the ground, straddling and punching her. Other people are then seen joining in on the beating, kicking the woman. She gets up and tries to walk away as the man follows her, and continues throwing punches. A group of women then pick her up and carry her away from the violence. The woman, identified by WFAA News as Muhlaysia Booker, suffered a facial fracture and her right arm is in a sling, but she is recovering with close friends. Booker thanked her supporters in a Facebook post Saturday. Nationwide, at least 26 transgender people were fatally shot or killed violently in 2018, the majority of whom were black transgender women, according to data from advocacy group the Human Rights Campaign. Contributing: N'dea Yancey-Bragg. Follow Ashley May on Twitter: @AshleyMayTweets April 14:Dallas police investigating assault of transgender woman as potential hate crime<doc-sep>News Amy Cooper Is Suing The Employer That Fired Her For Being Racist Amy Cooper — the Central Park “Karen” who called the police on a Black birdwatcher named Christian Cooper and falsely accused him of threaten<doc-sep>
Police in Dallas are investigating a potential hate crime after a transgender woman was allegedly attacked by a group of men. The woman, identified as Muhlaysia Booker, told police that the incident occurred near an apartment complex after a minor traffic accident, Dallas’s WFAA News reported. "The Department is investigating this offense and reviewing all available evidence to determine if it will be classified as a hate crime," police said in a statement. ADVERTISEMENT Video taken of the Friday assault reportedly shows a group of people surrounding Booker, punching and kicking her repeatedly after she falls to the ground. Booker was treated for injuries, including facial fractures and an arm injury, at a Dallas-area hospital, a family member told WFAA. According to a statement from police, Booker said members of the crowd used homophobic slurs. Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said in a statement that he saw the video and is “extremely angry about what appears to be mob violence against this woman.” "I am in contact with the chief and she assured me that the Dallas Police Department is fully investigating, including the possibility that this was a hate crime,” Rawlings said. “Those who did this do not represent how Dallasites feel about our thriving LGBTQ community. We will not stand for this kind of behavior." The alleged attack comes amid heightened national awareness of violence targeting transgender people. In 2018, at least 26 transgender people were fatally shot or killed violently, according to data from LGBTQ advocacy group the Human Rights Campaign.