Victim of McDonald's beating speaks out-Transgender woman calls attack 'hate crime'

[RamboLiberal]

A transgender woman beaten at a Baltimore County McDonald's spoke out on Saturday, saying that the attack was "definitely a hate crime" and that she's been afraid to go out in public ever since.

"They said, 'That's a dude, that's a dude and she's in the female bathroom,' " said Chrissy Lee Polis, 22, who said she stopped at the Rosedale restaurant to use the restroom. "They spit in my face."

A worker at the restaurant taped Monday's attack and created a graphic video that went viral last week. After the video garnered hundreds of thousands of views on websites, McDonald's issued a statement condemning the incident, and on Saturday the worker who taped the incident was fired.

The video shows two females — one of them a 14-year-old girl — repeatedly kicking and punching Polis in the head as an employee and a patron try to intervene. Others can be heard laughing, and men are seen standing idly by.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-mcdonalds-beating-20110423,0,3336656.story

[Marcel]

1. Problem solved...

They fired the the worker who taped the incident. :puke:

[FreeState]

3. McDonalds has more problems that can't be solved by one firing...

They need to train their employees and make sure all their establishments are safe for all customers.

[GomezLives]

2. The video was disgraceful.

[enlightenment]

4. The beating was disgraceful.

The video is what our society has become - the first thought isn't "what can I do", it's "how many hits will this get on YouTube?"

What is disgraceful is that two women felt it appropriate to beat someone up in public - and that many others felt it appropriate to do nothing to stop them.

[GomezLives]

5. I bet they try the 14 year old as an adult

[Very_Boring_Name]

7. I'm pretty sure I read they were trying her as a juvenile

[BR_Parkway]

10. No, it was trans that got beaten, they don't count as much as the regular people

Just like any other minority, there will be some assumption that part of the blame is hers from some who want to judge. Not the same treatment straight white males get in the least.

[Very_Boring_Name]

6. To be fair there was one woman who stepped in when she saw what was going on

It gives me hope that some semblance of humanity still exists.

[RamboLiberal]

8. That lady gets my courage award

[Taitertots]

13. When was the last time you tried to break up a fight? n/t

[enlightenment]

14. The last time I saw one, which was a while back.

You might want to be careful with comments like that - it could make some people think you're one of the ones who would have filmed it and giggled.

[Taitertots]

15. I would without hesitation film the fight

Then, I'd put it on youtube. I probably wouldn't be giggling until my video tape was used for their convictions.


When you tried to stop the fight, how well did that work out?

[enlightenment]

16. Not too well - but it did slow down the proceedings.

I don't understand why you're pursuing this point, however. I could pursue mine, I suppose - why, for instance, would you post your video on YouTube rather than turning it over to the authorities directly? The end result would, hopefully, be the same; a conviction of the guilty . . . but without the self-aggrandizing feature of showing the world what you did.

I won't pursue that, though. I don't see the point.

[Taitertots]

17. Turn it over to the police and hope they do their job well or...

Put it on the internet where they can't hide it. McDonald's can't hide it, the police can't refuse to release it, and everyone in the world has unrestricted access.

If you think the reaction to this case would be the same without the video being made public, than I would like to hear your reasoning.

[cutlassmama]

9. I had no idea this was over someone being transgender. These

people need to be prosecuted as a hate crime.

[lbrtbell]

11. The victim had a seizure from the beating

The media conveniently leaves that part out. I saw the video, and it was horrible. The poor soul was near the wall, and her arm kept slamming into it while they tried to get the nearby trash can out of her way.

The perps tried to come back and beat her up some more, even AFTER the seizures began. Thank God the manager (I think it was him) was able to keep them out of the restaurant. Between the seizures and the blood on the floor, I'm surprised the victim isn't too brain-damaged to speak.

[Obamanaut]

12. It probably was a hate crime, possibly even racially based.

White victim beaten by black girls who were advised to run when the police began to arrive.