On July 30 a 15-year old trans girl boarded a Metro green line train in the District of Columbia with a couple of her friends. One might assume that was a peaceful act.
But when 24-year old Reginald Anthony Klaiber of Greenbelt, MD boarded the same car on that train, he reacted to the trans girl violently. At first he disliked her hair color (the girl was wearing a red wig). Then he questioned her clothing. When the girl asked him to leave her alone, her friends say he asked her, “Are you a boy? Are you a boy? …Why are you looking like a girl?”
He came to my friend and said you have red hair. My friend said ok, and then he said, ‘Oh, you’re a man!’
Then he started bothering my friend. My friend got up out of her seat to go by the door while the train was moving and told him to please leave her alone. He faced her and said I will stab you up and blow your brains out.
—Jae-la White, friend of the victim
When the girl stood up and moved towards the rear of the car as the train approached the Fort Totten Station, Klaiber grabbed her from behind, pulled out a folding knife with a 3.5 inch blade and stabbed her in the back. One of the girl’s friends then sprayed Klaiber with pepper spray, but that didn’t stop him. The three teens ran. Klaiber gave chase, shouting:
I’m going to [stab you] again!
It took four police officers to subdue Klaiber.
The girl was transported to local hospital, where she was listed in stable condition.
Police have charged Klaiber with assault with a deadly weapon, enhanced as a hate crime.
On August 2 at around 4pm, a 30-year old trans woman was walking along the street on her way to pay her bills when suddenly she felt a gun at the back of her head. Then she heard a man’s voice.
He told me, ‘Give me your money, I’ma [sic] kill all these *****,’ including me. If I didn’t give it up, he was going to shoot me.
–the victim
Presumably, the excised word was “trannies.”
The victim has not left her apartment since the incident because she is afraid to go outside. But she won’t be able to stay there much longer because the man stole her rent money.
It’s very traumatic. I don’t wish this on [anybody].
–the victim
Police are investigating the incident as a possible hate crime.
What did these women do to instigate these events? Apparently it was sufficient that they were identifiably transgender.
Laverne Cox “takes a stab” at explaining it:
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With some effort, perhaps we can restore my faith in humankind. At the moment, I’m hugely disappointed.