Opinion & Commentary: Tension in Memphis
By Raven Usher
(still credit: WMC-TV)
An incident in Memphis, TN on February 12, 2008, involving a police officer beating a trans-woman was recently brought to my attention.
Here are the facts:
Duanna Johnson was arrested on a prostitution charge. She was in the booking area waiting to be processed into jail. That is where Officer Bridges McRae struck her several times. The graphic incident was caught on video by the police surveillance cameras.
According to Johnson, courtesy of WMC-TV, what started the incident was McRae calling her “faggot” and “he/she” when he asked her to stand up and be fingerprinted. She told him that that was not what her mother named her, and that she would not respond to him until he called her by her name. That was when McRae initially came over and began to beat Johnson according to her.
Perpetual Transition is a Memphis, TN-based support and social group for transgender people. “Perpetual Transition condemns the savage beating of Duanna Johnson, a 42 year-old African-American transsexual woman, by Memphis police officer Bridges McRae on February 12th. We similarly are dismayed by the sluggish response by the Memphis Police Department to investigate this matter further,” they said. “We extend our sympathies to Ms. Johnson for the brutality that she has suffered, and we would like for her to know that though she is not currently a member of Perpetual Transition, she is always welcome through our doors and in our hearts. Additionally, we thank Ms. Johnson for having the courage to stand up for herself in the face of such extreme violence. She has set an example for all and has helped to open Memphis’ eyes to the greater, systematic problem of police abuse of trans people in this city.”
The video clearly shows that Johnson is NOT a defenseless victim during the incident in my opinion. She did not curl up into a ball and endure a beating. She fought back while in a seated position, even kicking at McRae’s knee. She then stands up and attacks McRae after he backs off.
Also, refusing to stand and be finger printed regardless of how she was addressed is a serious offense. That alone is enough to make a police officer use physical force to make a suspect do as told.
Over the last decade, since I came out as transgendered, I have seen a lot of trannies do a lot of stupid things. I have seen them put themselves in harms way; by getting intimate with men who do not know they are TG. By exposing themselves to people or groups they know to be hostile towards TGs. And by attracting unnecessary attention from law enforcement agencies and risking their very lives by facing prison time by breaking the law.
Transgendered people have an extra responsibility to their personal safety that average people do not have. We know that we face extra danger just because we are indeed transgendered. It is OUR job to protect ourselves. Anything that puts an average person at risk of violence puts transgendered people at five times that risk. That includes things like breaking the law and getting into confrontations with cops. 99.99% of cops will go out of their way and even risk their lives to help transgendered people the same as they would for anyone else. That .01% idiot should not be used to influence your trust in the police. Unless you are a criminal.
The prostitution charges have been dropped since the incident made the news. Johnson’s lawyers claim that there was no just cause for the arrest to begin with and say that is why the charges were dropped.
Johnson also states that since she is African-American and towering at a height of 6′5″ that she was “profiled” not only as a prostitute, but also a potential threat. It seems more likely however that the charges were dropped so that the police department could partially defuse an already ugly incident. This specially seems likely as Johnson’s legal team avoids the subject of Johnson working as a sex worker.
There is no way of knowing conclusively at this point if the incident between McRae and Johnson was or was not hate-inspired since there is no audio evidence to support Johnson’s claim of name calling on McRae’s part. Johnson surely should not have been struck for anything less striking out first. A police officer, specially one who works in booking, should be above being moved to violence by even the most offensive verbal borage from someone they have in custody.
That would not excuse Johnson from some responsibility in the incident. It is way beyond stupid to mouth off to or cop an attitude with the police. An insult or a purposely misused pronoun from an officer is not justification to refuse to obey police commands. Following that up with physically resisting when the officer tries to move you is a very bad thing.
Seeing the full length video, not the edited-for-hype-and-ratings version that was initially aired, it does appear that Johnson did in fact resist McRae when he attempted to physically move her. You can clearly see her pushing his hands away when he tried to take her by the upper arm. This would be comparable to resisting arrest and the officer would then be justified in striking the suspect. Johnson’s behavior was totally unjustified as a response to an insult.
I am sure of one thing after my own look into the ordeal. In my opinion, this was not a hate crime against a trans-person. It was a common conflict between a cop and a suspected criminal. The suspect was being combative and the cop overstepped his bounds. There was bad judgment calls and wrong actions on both of their parts. Yes, Officer McRae went too far in hitting Johnson as many times as he did. But Johnson did provoke the incident by resisting the officer and refusing to obey commands.
As on-lookers, we need to remember that transgendered people do stupid and illegal things just like everyone else. Just because this suspect is African American and/or transgendered, we should not be too quick to use those details as an excuse to claim wrong doing before we have the proof. Most importantly, let us not over react and scream “hatred” and “prejudice” when there is no due. Keep your wits about you. Be real and truthful. And for the sake of the gods do not add to the hype. Blessed Be.
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Commentary expressed by Raven Usher is not necessarily reflective of Out Impact, Inc.
Memphis News Sources: WMC-TV
Memphis Transgender Resources, support the transgender community in Memphis:
TTPC Denounces Brutal Hate Crime Attack by Memphis Police
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About Raven Usher:
Raven Usher came out of the closet as Transgender in ‘99 after ten years of marriage, fathering three children and serving in the United States Marine Corps. She began expressing her views to the rest of the LGBT community as a writer / reporter in the summer of 2000. This led her to be an outspoken voice of the transgender equality fight in Idaho for nearly a decade. She also makes herself available to the transgender community as a contact point for trans issues through the LGBT Community Center in Boise. Her monthly column “Raven’s World” (http://www.ravenusher.blogspot.com/) started in 2002 and has been seen all over the Pacific Northwest. In late 2006, Raven published the “North American Lexicon of Transgendered Terms” (http://www.glbpubs.com/lex.html) with GLB Publishing. It is now a resource for positive communication and education not just in America, but is also available in several countries around the world. Most recently, her new cartoon strip featuring two gay penguins named Adam & Steve, “All Polls Point North” (http://www.allpollspointnorth.blogspot.com/) has been syndicated in print and on line. Raven is now a regular contributing writer for Out Impact, Inc.
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