A witness, Kaci Melendez, tells New Times that what started as a vigorous evening at an LGBTQ rooftop get together in Wynwood ended with trauma, screams, and a blood-soaked journey to Jackson Memorial Hospital.
Relaying the narrative she advised police, Melendez says the confrontation started within the late-night hours on November 26, when she and her group had been leaving an LGBTQ “White Party” and met up outdoors with a pal within the arts district. Melendez advised police that the pal turned upset when she heard “catcalls” from a gaggle of males and that the lady confronted them.
Melendez says that through the verbal dispute, insults flew backwards and forwards, and one of many males derided the group’s LGBTQ background, suggesting that lesbians would by no means expertise satisfying sexual activity. According to the police report, Melendez’s pal then advised one other particular person, the alleged assailant, that he had a “small penis,” prompting him to retort with a remark concerning the genitalia of a transgender girl within the group.
The report (connected on the backside of this story) describes how issues shortly escalated. Melendez advised police the person went ballistic and proceeded to clobber the lady who insulted his manhood. She fell to the bottom, hit her head on the concrete, and was left unconscious in a pool of blood.
A combat then broke out between the group of males and a member of the injured girl’s clique.
A clip posted on-line of the incident reveals that the trans girl, who’s sporting a white costume, was struck within the face by a person sporting a white T-shirt after which once more, and seemingly more durable, by one other man from the group. According to Melendez’s account, the lady was not hitting anybody and was attempting to interrupt up the combat when she obtained the heavy blows, which knocked her unconscious and triggered a extreme head harm. (Some of the people within the video are bystanders and will not be accused of violent conduct.)
A Miami Police Department spokesperson tells New Times that police are investigating whether or not the incident will likely be handled as a hate assault.
“We are working with the SAO Hate Crime Task Force and our LGBTQ+ Liaison to find out if it rises to the extent of a hate crime,” spokesperson Orlando Rodriguez writes in an e mail.
All of the victims requested that their names not be revealed out of privateness issues whereas they get well from their accidents. Their identities are redacted from the police report.
Police responded to the scene to seek out the primary knocked-out girl face-up on the sidewalk with a heavy stream of blood gushing from her head. She was transported to Jackson Memorial with critical accidents, together with a gaping laceration to the top, a extreme concussion, and a cranium fracture, based on Melendez.
Melendez says her trans pal was additionally hospitalized at Jackson Memorial and stays devastated by the incident. She has been timid about going outdoors and was reluctant to let her kids see her swollen, bruised face after the assault, Melendez says.
“She was severely traumatized. She usually likes to play basketball, volleyball, however now she does not even need to depart the home or do actions. She’s seeing a therapist to attempt to get well,” Melendez tells New Times.
According to the police report, one of many males who was current through the preliminary argument was Bryan “El Gallo” Duran. An area bare-knuckle boxer and Cuba-born fighter, Duran has practically 60,000 followers on Instagram (@bryanelgalloduran). Melendez says Duran was concerned within the verbal dispute however didn’t strike her pals and wasn’t one of many people who turned violent through the incident.
In the report, the police didn’t launch the names of the 2 males who’re accused of assault. The investigation is ongoing, and it is unclear if they’re going to be charged with any crime.
If the incident is set to be a hate crime, it will add to a wave of anti-trans violence and transphobia plaguing the United States and Florida.
At least 33 transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals have been killed in America in violent incidents and assaults this yr, based on the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). Most had been transgender ladies, and practically 90 p.c had been individuals of colour, famous the report, which included home violence within the evaluation. More than 170 trans individuals have been violently killed within the final 4 years.
The more and more tense tradition wars have fanned the flames of intolerance in opposition to trans individuals in the previous couple of years. At least 16 payments in Florida that instantly or not directly goal trans individuals had been launched in 2023 alone, based on Equality Florida.