Two Men Arrested in Assault on Transgender Queens Female

Two men have been arraigned on charges of assault as a hate crime after an alleged rock-throwing attack on a transgender female in Queens on Wednesday night. Carmella Etienne, 22, says she walking by the corner of 116th Avenue and 199th Street in St. Albans when two men shouted anti-gay slurs and threatened to cut her throat. (NY1 reports they even threatened to sodomize her with a baseball bat.) After promising to call the police, the two suspects allegedly said, "The police don't care about you, they won't do anything to us." Rocks and a bottle were thrown, and Etienne sustained a deep cut to her leg.

Nathaniel Mims, 25, of the Bronx and Rasheed Thomas, 22, of Queens, were arrested at the scene, but Candy Brown, a friend of one of the suspects, tells NY1 cops got the wrong guys: "He stopped right here, started doing his little vogue-ing thing, cause that's what they do. And I guess the guy that is with my friend he didn't like he, you know 'Go outta here with that, you know, no one wants to see that' and he went about his business. Somebody else or whatever started throwin rocks or whatever, but they were here. They didn't have anything to do with it."

Thomas, one of the suspects, told prosecutors after the arrest, "I didn't know you could get locked up for calling somebody names. I called her a bunch of names. I called her a [expletive deleted], but she didn't see me throw anything." Etienne, 22, moved to Queens from Haiti six years ago and soon began her transformation from male to female. (According to CBS2, she's medically and legally a woman.) Both suspects are being held on $5,000 bail; if convicted, they could face up to 15 years in prison.

Etienne tells the Daily News, "The law will hopefully put them to justice. I love being myself." And Brendan Fay, a leader in the LGBT community in Queens, says, "There's mounting concern in the community and anger at the violence and prejudice." Last month another transgender woman was assaulted with a belt buckle by two men in Jackson Heights, and during Gay Pride Weekend a group of young men on the Upper East Side beat a man while calling him a "faggot."

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in News on July 10, 2009 8:51 AM

Comments [rss]

gabby_phoenix

where does it end eh, you know someone is subjected to transphobic hate crime.
then some more faceless people then carry on that hate crime in a thread relating to the story.
but lets face it this person is someones child and maybe some-ones sibling.
would all those faceless people making playground comments be saying those things if their brother became their sister or their dad became their mum???
what happened to peace and love?
i still show peace and love to all the people who attack me verbally or physically..........
i am transitioning trans-sexual ( trans woman )
my sexual preference is a-sexual
here's some links for those ingnorant people who may not wish to change.........

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T...
http://heartcorps.com/journeys...
http://www.genderpsychology.or...

Carmella good luck on your life journey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

mist.

i know of Carmella as we ride the Q4 bus together. Passengers, especially teens, like to make fun of her face, but she's very dignified and ignores them with her head held high.

i think she's very brave to live all the way out in St. Albans, as it's not at all known for being open-minded (Cambria Heights as well). but it saddens me that she was bashed and i hope she recovers

snickerdoodle

Yawn.

Oh, and tranny is one fugly beeyotch.

VanessaNYC

You're one ugly person.

Nyctini11

Pot calling the kettle black? You're going around here calling everyone jerks & they're ugly, blah blah blah, how is what you're doing any different.

magpieseven

Because she's calling people ugly for making transphobic remarks in a thread attached to an article about violence against a trans woman, whereas you were calling a trans woman physically ugly in a thread attached to an article about violence against a trans woman. That is how it is different.

whitecastlerock

Whether you find this victim of a hate crime ugly or not is irrelevant... If anything you're being a woman and acting like a condescending, judgmental fucking asshole about how this victim of a hate crime looks is heinous. Ugly or not, no one should have rocks thrown at them and have their lives threatened because some fucking cave man or woman finds them ugly.

valeriob

Hate crimes are disgusting and these assholes deserve 15 years.

contro

Hate crimes are disgusting but freedom of speech they were just expressing it, them using violence I agree arrest them.

Whammo

"According to CBS2, she's medically and legally a woman."

Uhh.. no, unless "she" has a uterus, ovaries and a cervix she is a man with missing plumbing. People think they can cut a slot and make a woman? In that case my local ATM is a woman.

NannyState

I think I've been to that ATM. When the $20 bill came out I was like, uh..nevermind.

robingee

You're an idiot.

magpieseven

Second.

contro

LOL

Mordicai

"...started doing his little vogue-ing thing, cause that's what they do."

So, you know. She had it coming. Sheesh. Anyhow, kudos to the cops for doing the right thing; too often we only pay attention when they screw up, but right on, NYPD.

citizenerased

Looks like jar jar binks

magpieseven

That was pretty uncalled for, dude. She got beaten up, this story isn't about how she looks. It's about the fact some bigots threw rocks at her and split her leg open, and language like yours right there- mocking trans people for the way they look- is the first step towards making it okay to do that. Cut it out. It's really not cool.