Brody's Notes... Baltimore County Maryland Grand Jury Indicts Two Females In Hate Crime

By Linsey Pecikonis | Baltimore, Maryland -- An indictment returned Monday by a Baltimore County, Maryland, grand jury charges Teonna Brown with assault and a hate crime in the attack on Chrissy Lee Polis last month in a suburban Baltimore County McDonald's that was caught on a cell phone video. 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. A videotape of the April 18 beating posted online shows a woman being attacked repeatedly while an employee and customer try to stop them. The woman then appears to have a seizure.
The employee who filmed the entire attack was fired the next day by the franchise owner who was angered that instead of intervening, the employee kept filming and at one point seemed to offer the attackers support.

National Center for Transgender Equality board member Dr. Dana Beyer told the Associated Press:

"People who watched the video may feel that the attack was clearly a hate crime, but it is important for the evidence to be there for the charges," Dr. Beyer said.

"If there is no hate crime enhancement, the public can get very upset. Our position is that it doesn't benefit anyone to have the law applied indiscriminately," Beyer said. "It cheapens it. It's always a difficult call."

Equality Maryland applauded the Baltimore County State's Attorney's decision to press for hate crime indictment against the two women who brutally attacked Ms. Polis on charges that include hate crime and first and second-degree assault.

Lynne Bowman, Interim Executive Director of Equality Maryland said:

"Today, the .State's Attorney for Baltimore County came to the only possible conclusion in deciding to try the assault on Chrissy Lee Polis as a hate crime. As the video shows, the violent attack was directly related to the fact that Ms. Polis is a transgender woman. Lack of understanding or fear about someone who is transgender is never an excuse for violence and when it occurs, it should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

"Through our Transgender Education Project, Equality Maryland will continue to work to educate people in Maryland about issues related to gender identity and the challenges transgender people face just trying to go about their daily lives. We will also continue our push in Annapolis to see gender identity protections added to Maryland's existing anti-discrimination laws. Maryland has always been on the forefront of social justice issues. It's time that our Assembly make a clear statement that discrimination against someone based on their gender identity is wrong and will no longer be tolerated in this state."