A Maryland grand jury has handed down hate-crime charges in the beating of a transgender woman at a McDonald’s outside Baltimore.
The April 24 incident has gotten national attention, in part because an employee shot a video of the incident and posted it online.
From the Associated Press:
Teonna Brown, 18, was indicted Monday on assault and hate crime charges in the attack on Chrissy Lee Polis at the restaurant last month. She is also charged with assaulting a customer and a McDonald’s employee who tried to intervene. A 14-year-old girl is facing the same charges in juvenile court. The Associated Press typically does not identify juveniles charged with crimes.
Much of the publicity about the attack has focused on the fact that some McDonald’s employees and customers simply watched while Chrissy Lee Polis was beaten, kicked in the head and dragged across the floor by her hair. An employee even laughed while shooting the video, and another worker tried to help the attackers to leave so they would not get caught.
The contents of this video contain disturbing images.