http://lgbtweekly.com/2011/12/03/rangers-crotch-tazing-of-trans-woman-caught-on-video/I’m aware that attitudes in society, and even in the LGBT community, about trans women are often negative and sometimes hostile. As a trans woman, the idea of being arrested is a scary thought because I know those negative and hostile attitudes are at least as commonplace in police officers as they are in broader society.
When I went to jail over the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) back in March 2010, I had one park police officer refer to me as an “impersonator,” and a federal marshal refer to me as an “it” and a “shim.” I felt somewhat fortunate to not have been physically or sexually abused after handcuffing myself to the White House fence, even though I knew that by getting arrested in that direct action I might have been.
I know how badly trans people have been treated by officers of the law, so I’m not easily shocked when I hear horror stories about police mistreatment of trans people. But, even I was shocked pretty deeply watching the raw video of the arrest of Brooke Fantelli.
Standing, hands up in the air with no visible resistance to arrest, Ranger Petter tazed Brooke in the abdomen. At slightly more than 50 seconds into the video, the ranger tazed her a second time – this time in the crotch.