The murder of a transsexual woman in San Antonio, Texas by suspect Damion Campbell is being blamed on Christianity. Three employees were attacked inside a barbershop but two managed to escape. Helle Jae O’Regan died of her injuries. https://t.co/UHUiBdcx6j pic.twitter.com/Yxu8VU2G81— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) May 14, 2020
The Post Millennial
written by Chad Felix Greene
Thursday May 14, 2020
LGBTQ Nation, widely considered the most followed LGBT news website with 1.6 million likes on Facebook, posted the headline, Deranged attacker stabs San Antonio trans woman to death because "God told him to." The only problem was that Christianity was not the reason for the attack.
Following the headline, the article declares that the man asked, "God sent me here to kill you because you have done something wrong! What have you done wrong?"
One Facebook commenter declared in response, "Because of people like this, when someone goes out of their way to make sure I know they are a Christian, I decidedly keep my distance."
Another shouted, "It's time we all get together and take a stand, tell our respected state lawmakers that it's not ok to treat us as second class citizens!" They then demanded the killer be severely punished under hate crime law.
What the LGBT reader may not have been aware of, and which no one in the comments seemed interested in considering, is that the transgender victim was one of multiple victims in what appears to have been a random act of violence.
The attacker, Damion Campbell, entered Diesel Barbershop to book an appointment. When he was asked for payment he left angrily and returned with a gun and a knife and proceeded to hold the three employees hostage. Per local reports, “An arrest affidavit states surveillance video shows Campbell forced the three employees into the back of the shop. At one point, Campbell placed one victim ‘in a choke hold until he renders [victim] unconscious.'”
As he herded the employees to the back of the store he began incoherently shouting, “What have you done wrong? What have you done wrong? God sent me here to kill you because you have done something wrong! What have you done wrong?" over and over. When the police arrived they found one woman dead from gunshot wounds inside the shop and another employee who had escaped to a nearby restaurant with multiple stab wounds. A third employee was able to escape without injury.
Shane Brown, CEO of Diesel Barbershop, said "A man attempted to kill three of my amazing employees. Three wonderful, kindhearted, give you the shirt off of their backs, loyal employees for no reason at all. None. In fact, detectives tell us this appears to be a completely random act of violence. And because of that random act of violence, one life has been ended and a family is forever changed, two employees will be forever scarred and changed by this, and the entire Diesel Family is reeling in shock. We’re all just numb now. Numb."
The LGBTQ Nation article acknowledges the facts of the case stating, “Even though police don’t think Campbell targeted O’Regan for her gender identity, her death makes her the 11th trans person to be murdered this year.” Later on towards the end of the article they state, “It’s unclear what led him to attack the employees.”
Despite this, Tori Cooper, the Human Rights Campaign’s director of Community Engagement for the Transgender Justice Initiative stated in response, “The Human Rights Campaign is standing with Helle’s family and friends in mourning today. Her death further underscores the dire and urgent need to end violence and discrimination against transgender people—and especially against transgender women—now.”
What would you picture if you saw a headline stating that a man stabbed a transgender woman to death while shouting that “God told him to?” What would you feel if you were an LGBT person marinated in media telling you that conservative Christians hate you and violence towards transgender people has become an epidemic? How would you interpret the world around you as a gay or transgender person if you scrolled by the headline and never saw anything more than those words and the reaction to it? You would probably believe a lie.
It seems clear that LGBT advocacy is more invested in keeping the LGBT community in fear, relying on advocacy groups to passionately "fight" for them to keep them safe from absolutely nothing. This was a random act of violence by a mentally disturbed person. To exploit this tragedy to push a false narrative of hate-motived violence is beyond irresponsible. From 2015 to 2019, out of 118 reported murders of transgender persons in the United States, 4 could be described as anti-trans hate crimes. Why is it so important to LGBT advocacy for LGBT people to live in fear, developing deep hatred for people falsely accused of targeting them for violence?
If he were a Muslim they wouldnt mention religion or race, and say it was probably a white supremacist attack— Bus Driver Patyo (@busdriverpatyo) May 14, 2020
They couldn't blame white people so of course they blame Christianity— Andrew🇺🇸● (@Dude_WithAPhone) May 14, 2020
A pattern has emerged of associating various LGBT social goals (free housing, free healthcare) with danger to LGBT ppl.— Chad Felix Greene (@chadfelixg) May 9, 2020
They recognize anti-trans targeting is very rare, but have evolved to argue *any* violence against a trans person is social transphobia https://t.co/vYghcL3Off
The Post Millennial
written by Chad Felix Greene
Saturday May 9, 2020
The Human Rights Campaign tweeted, "Three trans women lost their lives within the span of a week in Puerto Rico. This epidemic of hate and violence against trans and gender non-conforming people must cease."
But there isn't actually an epidemic of identity based violence against trans persons, and the Human Rights Campaign not only knows this, but continues to peddle this narrative despite its obvious falsehood.
Three trans women lost their lives within the span of a week in Puerto Rico. This epidemic of hate and violence against trans and gender non-conforming people must cease. #TransLivesMatter https://t.co/sDJNAmwnns— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) April 28, 2020
Citing that five of the nine known murders of transgender or gender non-conforming people in the United States in 2020 have occurred in Puerto Rico, HRC president Alphonso David tweeted, "There can be no doubt that transgender people—especially trans women of color—are living in crisis, which local & national leaders must urgently address. As we mourn those lost, we demand immediate action to protect all members of our community."
There can be no doubt that transgender people — especially trans women of color — are living in crisis, which local & national leaders must urgently address. As we mourn those lost, we demand immediate action to protect all members of our community.— Alphonso David (@AlphonsoDavid) April 27, 2020
HRC clarifies that the reports of annual records shows that these murders are committed by people the victim knows, including through domestic violence, not primarily by complete strangers involving a clear anti-transgender bias. It also recognizes that dangerous environmental dangers like homelessness, poverty and sex-work are to blame.
The HRC acknowledges the majority of murders of trans people are not anti-trans motivated, but insists on screaming to the LGBT world an "epidemic of anti-trans violence" to push a political narrative. In public messaging they continue to portray the problem as "hatred" and the solution they propose involves vague action by authorities to stop said hatred.
In response to two deaths, that of 21-year-old Layla Peláez and 32-year-old Serena Angelique Velázquez, found in a burnt car in southeast Puerto Rico, spokesman for the LGBT group Broad Committee for the Search for Equity, Pedro Julio Serrano, declared "They are hunting us." Police investigation has found no evidence to explain the circumstances surrounding the deaths, or the motivation behind them.
One month prior, 19-year-old Angélica Marie Méndez, also known as Yampi Méndez Arocho, a transgender man, was shot several hours after being in an altercation with an unnamed woman. The police have not found evidence the two events are related or any suspects for the shooting. The police were contacted during the altercation, but no further information is available to fill in the time between.
One month prior to that, Alexa Negrón Luciano, a transgender woman identified as male by her family and police investigators, appears to have been the target of anti-transgender bias. Police were called when a witness believed she saw a homeless person "peeping" on her in the women's restroom at a McDonalds. The witness stated the transwoman was "[C]rouched under the bathroom door with a mirror to spy on women in the women’s restroom." After the police arrived and learned the individual was homeless, the complainant dropped charges.
Known as Alexa, she was a popular target of mockery on social media, often photographed engaging in odd behavior. After social media posts of the alleged spying in the woman’s restroom, police believe a group of young men surrounded her and shot her, filming themselves and posting the recording onto social media. The suspects have not yet been identified but the police believe the posted video to be legitimate and they are investigating. The most recent death was that of Penélope Díaz Ramírez, an inmate at the Bayamon correctional complex. No further information has been provided.
What we see is a string of dissimilar events linked together through confirmation bias. The key component of transgender identity appears to be sufficient information for LGBT advocates to conclude that if one murder was of a hate crime nature, the rest must be as well and their proximity in time together validates the belief in a coordinated threat. But in reality these deaths do not appear to have anything in common.
The calls for authorities to act to stop violence against transgender women under the argument of an epidemic of identity based violence is irrational as there is nothing that can be done to stop random violence. The police have taken each death seriously and no victim is receiving less priority based on their gender identity. The specifying of “transwomen of color” is manipulation of heightened emotions rather than genuine advocacy as it is disingenuous to argue Latino victims were specifically targeted as part of a pattern of racism in the United States when their murders occurred in a majority Latino country.
There is no action that could be taken to prevent the completely unrelated murders of people who happen to be transgender. This in no way devalues their lives but recognizes them as equal tragedies in all random and senseless violence and murder. But LGBT advocates must stop exploiting these deaths to push social agendas and media narratives of hate-motivated violence that simply does not represent the facts. They recognize the conflict with their reporting and the facts of each case, but it appears they are more interested in the headlines they can present to the world instead.
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