Rights groups mum on beating

By Wendi C. Thomas
Memphis Commercial Appeal

When the videotape of a since-fired Memphis police officer beating a black transgender woman surfaced earlier this month, the outcry from the GLBT community (that's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender, for the unfamiliar) was swift and loud.

But from the folks who rally the troops when police brutality rears its head, especially when the officers are white and the victim is black (as was the case in the Feb. 12 incident), well, the silence was deafening.

The videotape shows officer James McSwain, also since fired, holding Johnson back as McRae punches Johnson in the face, repeatedly.

For Johnson, neither Rev. Jesse Jackson nor Rev. Al Sharpton have brought the national spotlight to town, and I think I know why.

Those who can be counted on to look out for the civil rights of black people are highly unreliable if that black person is gay, lesbian, bisexual and/or transgender.

full article

Update: Second Memphis police officer fired for beating transgender

BACKSTORY

from Out & About Newspaper

A second Memphis police officer has been fired as a result of a February attack on a transgender woman in the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center.

Bridges McRae, 28, was fired immediately after an administrative hearing held June 25 for his involvement in the beating of Duanna Johnson, 42. McRae had been on non-enforcement status since the attack.