Saturday, April 23, 2011

8730: Hate Crime? Not Lovin’ It.


The New York Daily News reported on an ugly incident that instantly erases any good feelings Mickey D’s hoped to inspire by its recent recruitment event. See the video here.

McDonald’s beating video: Victim is transgender, Maryland attack is hate crime, says advocacy group

By Aliyah Shahid, Daily News Staff Writer

The victim of a vicious beating at a Maryland McDonald’s is a transgendered woman, according to a LGBT advocacy group that’s calling for authorities to investigate the case as a hate crime.

The shocking video, which went viral on the Internet this week, shows the woman being kicked in the head by two girls at the Rosedale fast food chain as some of the staff stood by laughing.

At one point the attackers grab the victims’ hair and dragged her across the floor. Responding officers who responded to Monday’s attack found the 22-year-old woman apparently having a seizure.

The video was taken by McDonald’s employee Vernon Hackett, according to the Smoking Gun.

A 14-year-old girl has been charged as a juvenile in connection with the attack and charges are pending against an 18-year-old.

“It does appear that the victim was a transgender woman, and she was brutalized while people stood by and watched,” Lisa Polyak, vice president of the board of directors for Equality Maryland, told the Baltimore Sun.

“There’s no excuse for that violence under any circumstances, but we would encourage police to investigate as a hate crime.”

The police report does not give a motive for the beating, but quotes one of the alleged attackers as saying the fight was “over using a bathroom.”

McDonald’s condemned the attack in a statement calling it “unacceptable, disturbing and troubling.” The company said it was working with local authorities to investigate the incident.

With News Wire Services

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

if this was done in middle school or hight they tell you not to do it again...

offend an older person and they get jail... she probably got away with so much in school she did not think she would get it so hard now.