A group of men and a woman brutalized and slashed two transgender women in Bushwick early Saturday morning.
The victims, DJ Jasmine Infiniti of Oakland, California, and London Jade, a rapper living in Miami, were leaving Bushwick Liquors at Bushwick and Flushing avenues at about 1:45 a.m. when several people outside began heckling them, calling them "faggots" and "transformers," according to the authorities. The pair was accompanied by Cali Rose, also a DJ.
The group was "insinuating that myself, Cali or London were 'for them' or that our bodies and existence was a joke and Warranted commentary," Jasmine Infiniti told Paper magazine. "They called us transformers. They told us to get off of their block."
Then the crew attacked. There were eight or nine of them to start with, Jasmine Infinit told Gothamist. London Jade wrote online that she put up a fight, but fled when the woman in the group pulled out a blade. "[A]s i ran, this chick sliced the back of my leg and took my sandals which fell off while i dipped," she wrote on Facebook.
Jasmine Infiniti told Paper that she was left behind and "chose to be non violent," thinking, "maybe if I sit and take the pain it will convince people of something. Inspire a change of heart." She was beaten in the head and suffered a concussion and a fractured jaw, police said.
On Facebook, London Jade wrote further, "[W]hat scares me the most is, i was beyond WASTED and blacking out while me and my trans mother Jasmine Infiniti are being attacked and beat on. They couldve killed us... all we were doing was walking and minding our business, next thing i know we in the hospital for hours..."
Emergency medical personnel transported the two to Bellevue Hospital. London Jade wrote that she has since been released and returned to Miami yesterday. Jasmine Infiniti wrote that she is awaiting a jaw surgery that is scheduled for Thursday.
An internet fundraiser for the two says that Jasmine is not insured. The campaign has raised more than $34,000 for the pair since going live on Saturday.
No arrests have been made in connection with the attack. The NYPD's Hate Crime Task Force is investigating.
On Facebook Saturday, Jasmine Infiniti wrote that "the worst part of this" is how it might affect her European tour and other bookings, concluding, "Fuck transphobia, misogyny, and violent attitudes. I've had enough!"
Today, apparently responding to questions about having been denied service at the liquor store just prior to the fight, she wrote further:
Like Bitch no I was barely drunk and what the fuck I'm tired of ppl telling me that I should just "walk away" or avoid trouble... when is trouble going to learn to avoid me? When are bigots, transphobes, and haters going to learn not to bother random ppl?[...]We didn't say anything to those ppl in the street and sure I could have chosen to ignore it but instead I felt like saying something[...]
A man who answered the phone at Bushwick Liquors said, "Not interested," and hung up.
At least 27 transgender people were killed in 2016, almost all of them transgender women of color, according to the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. The National Transgender Discrimination Survey of 2015 found that 1 in 10 transgender people reported being attacked because of their gender identity.
