Transgender Woman Under Attack

On April 18th 2011, Chrissy Lee Polis was brutally beaten by two female African Americans. The attack ouccured at a McDonalds in Baltimore. The attack was recorded and put on the internet and it immediately reached people world wide. The video was described as shocking and disturbing to watch.

The Attack

22-year-old Miss Polis,was approached by one of her attackers after using the restroom in the McDonalds. The female who approached Chrissy, accused her of "looking at her man." Chrissy denied the accusation by replying that she did not even know the female was with her partner. At that moment, the attack began with the female spitting into Chrissy's face. The female then went on to throwing the victim to the floor, kicking her in the face and began to rip her hair out. Polis tried to fight back but could not as the other female joined the attack and both continued to brutally attack her. Everytime Polis would try and get up, they would simply follow her and drag her back down to continue on severely punching and kicking her. The beating continued until Chrissy Lee Polis was left in a seizure.

Onlookers

Reaching Out For Help

As Chrissy Lee Polis tried to escape her attackers, she realized she was being recorder by a McDonalds employee. Chrissy yelled for the employee to get out of her face. The male employee continued to record the beating on his cellphone. The video shows that no one comes to Polis's aid. There are other several employees in the background but they do nothing to stop the attack. The only two people who do come to the aid of Polis are a maleemployee of McDonalds and an elderly woman. The man tries to interfere with the fight but the two females continue to attack the victim. The elderly woman also tries to put an end to the brutal attack but is shoved by one of the attackers. Unfortunately, Chrissy Lee Polis reported that while these two witness came to her aid, the rest of the staff simply stood by, watched and laughed as she was beaten to a seizure.

Aftermath

The End of a Brutal Attack

After being brutally beaten, Miss Polis is at the front door of the restaurant and begins to have a seizure. At last, onlookers realize that Polis needs help and they call the police. However, an employee warns the two attackers to flee before the police arrives. The video that was recorded of the brutal attack ends with Polis on the floor heavily shaking in a seizure, with srands of her hair all over the floor. Even while Polis is having her seizure, the staff still act as if nothing is wrong and do not come to her aid.

Who was at the scene?

The Attackers

The two African American females who attacked Chrissy Lee Polis have been charged in the brutal assault. The 18-year-old was indetified as Teonna Monae Brown. She was arrested on three assault counts. She is being held at the Baltimore County Detention with a bail of $150,000. The other female is a 14-yeard- old who has been charged as a juvenile. In a police interview, the 14-year-old admitted to having been with Brown and getting into a fight with a woman over using the bathroom.

The Recorder

The man behind the camera? Employee Vernon Hackett. was the one who recorded the disturbing footage on his cellphone. Hackett claimed credit for recording the video on his Facebook account. Since then he has taken it down. He has also been fired.

Contraversial Factors

Hate Crime?

The LGBT group is investigating whether this attack was a hate crime. Miss Polis believes that her attack was indeed a hate crime. She reports that she was hurt really bad and is now afraid to go outside because of this. No anti-transgender slurs or evidence in the video prove that this was a hate crime. However, Miss Polis says that the attackers spit on her face once they found out she was a transgender woman.

Who is to blame?

Many blame the employees for not coming to the aid of Polis while others say that it would have been dangerous for the employees to get involved. Others believe that this is horrible management for such a well known fast food restaurant. There is no reason to point fingers now that the attack is over. What should be done is for the government to demand an enforced protocol. Everyone has the right to choose whether they want to get involved or not in any situation, whether it be harmful or not. However, under management, employees should be able to follow protocol in order to help out any victim without physically getting involved. If government regulates a law in which employees must at least be told to call the police for help, then in any case it can be said that authorities were contacted immediately. There are good samaritans who are willing to risk their lives to help others but that is not always the case. In being more realistic and providing a law that demands an employee to follow protocol such as immediately calling authorities, then a victim will not have the need to feel as if they were treated unfairly or unequally.