Health & Lifestyle

Seattle Transgender Person Attacked Orlando Shooting Fundraiser, FBI Investigating

Published on: June 26, 2016 at 3:15 AM
By Patricia Ramirez

A transgender individual in Seattle was attacked on Washington State’s Capitol Hill on Wednesday night following a fundraiser for victims of the Orlando terror attacks.

According to Seattle police, the transgender victim was walking to their car when the attack occurred. The perpetrator of the Seattle attack is reported to be a white male who was wearing an orange shirt at the time of the beating.

According to a KATU report, the Seattle transgender individual, Michael Volz, was addressed with a salutation of “Happy Pride,” by his attacker before being viciously choked and punched, according to the Seattle PD.

Since the incident against the transgender individual was reported, the FBI has become involved in the investigation, and the beating is being classified as a hate crime.

“This is not an isolated incident. This is something that happens to our community frequently, and we won’t tolerate it anymore.”

According to friends of the victim, the transgender Seattle citizen was taken to a local ER to be treated for their injuries, which were reportedly primarily superficial and included bruises and cuts. According to witnesses and investigators, the suspect in the Seattle transgender hate crime used a “transgender slur” during the unprovoked attack.

“I’m disgusted by this hateful attack. I want to assure the victim and the community that the SPD will leverage every resource to identify the suspect and bring him to justice.”

https://twitter.com/Taintersniff/status/746881970337026049

According to reports, the suspect in the Seattle transgender attack is a white male in his mid-20s. He reportedly had brown hair and a partial beard or goatee. Authorities say that the alleged perpetrator of the Seattle transgender attack was wearing an orange (or copper) colored sweatshirt, sandals and jeans at the time of the hate crime.

The victim of the Seattle transgender hate crime had reportedly been attending a benefit to support victims of the recent Orlando terror attack. The fundraiser was hosted by Jetspace Magazine, a “queer-centric” publication out of the Pacific Northwest. According to Robert Roth, the editor-in-chief of the magazine, the event that preceded the Seattle transgender attack raised over $2,000 for the Equality Florida Fund, money that is earmarked to go to support the victims of the Orlando terrorist attack.

Prior to the attack on the Seattle transgender individual, the fundraiser had been a rousing success.

“There were 200 people in there laughing and shouting and dancing and crying and showing affection for one another. It was just a great space to be queer – to be queer-bodied.”

The editor-in-chief of Jetspace Magazine didn’t hear about the attack on transgender attendee of his event until the following day, and the news cast a pall over the Seattle transgender event.

“It’s heartbreaking, and it’s even more heartbreaking because of the circumstances, because they were coming home from an event that was to benefit someone – a group of people that were attacked for being queer.”

Seattle hosted a Trans Pride parade on Friday.

In response to the unprovoked attack on the Seattle transgender individual Wednesday, local law enforcement ramped up patrols at the Seattle Pride events throughout the weekend. Pride celebrations, unfortunately, are often attractive to those who would perpetuate hate crimes on unwitting victims.

An online GoFundMe fundraiser has been set up for the Seattle transgender attack victim. Over $33,000 have been raised since the account was created. According to the fundraising page, the alleged perpetrator was much more vile than the local media reported.

“Show me your tits you tr**ny c**t.”

According to the GoFundMe page, the transgender victim of the recent Seattle violence is dealing with moderate physical injuries, including abrasions, some stitches, a lot of pain and bruising and even vision loss. However, according to supporters, it’s the emotional devastation that the Seattle transgender violence victim is enduring that is the most painful of all.

[Image by Shutterstock]

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