The shooting of a man at the IHOP restaurant in Columbia Heights early Sunday morning and an assault on an individual Monday evening in Park View are being investigated as anti-gay hate crimes, The Washington Blade reported yesterday.
The victim of the IHOP shooting was a 31-year-old gay man and the victim of the Monday assault, was a 29-year-old gay man who was attacked after exiting a taxicab at the intersection of Georgia Avenue and Irving Street NW.
Police said the shooting Sunday erupted about 6:30 a.m. after one of two suspects had a heated verbal argument with the victim that erupted into a physical confrontation, the Blade reported:
Aaron Woodland, who identified himself as the victim’s cousin, said he and another cousin were with the victim at the restaurant when the incident occurred. According to Woodland, the three suspects were sitting at a table near where the victim and the two cousins were seated. He said the suspects referred to the victim and the two cousins repeatedly as “faggies” while the two parties sat at their separate tables.
Woodland said the altercation began when the victim got up to pay the restaurant bill and the three suspects blocked his path. He said a fight started after the victim pushed his way past the suspects.
“Once he did that they started calling him faggy again,” said Woodland.
Woodland said the victim was being treated for a gunshot wound to the liver and was expected to be released from the hospital in about a week.
Police are still looking for two suspects in the shooting, and earlier this week offered a cash reward for information leading to the suspects’ arrests.
The victim of Monday’s incident was verbally harassed then physically attacked by two or three assailants who dragged the victim down the street about 9:30 p.m., the victim’s partner, Rodney Shaffer, told the Blade. After leaving the victim bloodied and with a broken jaw, another group of attackers stole his wallet and cell phone before an ambulance could arrive, Shaffer said.
A third incident later Monday evening in Northeast D.C. is not being considered an bias-motivated case right now. Right now, police say that a transgender woman who was assaulted from behind and knocked unconscious about 11:50 p.m. in the 1100 block of West Virginia Avenue NE was not attacked out of anti-transgender bias. But in an interview later at the hospital where she was treated, she told investigators that she believed she was targeted because she is transgender, the Blade reported.
The news of another potentially anti-transgender crime brings to memory recent testimony delivered to the D.C. Council by Jason Terry of the D.C. Trans Coalition. In his appearance February 29, Terry sharply criticized MPD for what he called an “amateur hour” approach to investigating violent crimes against transgender individuals.
Terry said he broached the West Virginia Avenue incident at a meeting Tuesday night between LGBT activists and MPD’s Critical Incident Team.
“I raised the issue of West Virginia Avenue because the first person who responded said it wasn’t a hate crime because the victim couldn’t remember what happened before being knocked unconscious,” Terry told DCist in an interview. “In a later interview things came back. Wouldn’t be surprising if it is designated anti-trans.”
Still, Terry said there hasn’t been much change in the way MPD investigates crimes targeting transgender victims in two weeks since his Council appearance. He said his interactions with MPD officials are mostly procedural when dealing with various unit commanders, but that real improvements in the way the department handles bias crimes needs to begin with Chief Cathy Lanier.
There’s been “no response yet to our demands to truly address the bias issues,” Terry said
And with respect to West Virginia Avenue incident, Terry said: “I trust the victim here. I hope MPD does.”
