Two Men Arrested, Charged with Hate Crimes in Attack on Transgender Woman in Washington State
Just hours after the release of a surveillance photo, two men were arrested for the hate-crime assault of a transgender woman who, with the help of dozens of supporters, took her case this week to the Spokane City Council.
Adam R. Flippen, 45, faces charges of second-degree assault and malicious harassment. Marc A. Fessler, 42, is charge with one count of malicious harassment, a felony hate crime charge in Washington State. The suspects, arrested at their defense attorney’s office, were released by a judge on Wednesday after spending a night in jail. Prosecutors say formal charges are forthcoming.
The victim, Jacina Scamahorn, who is homeless, told investigators she was on a public sidewalk outside Boots Bakery & Lounge and the Zola bar on Friday evening when two men began making negative, unsolicited comments about her gender identity.
The victim said the comments upset her and she spit in the face of one of the men before they followed her inside the bakery, screaming obscenities, as the assault took place before witnesses. Scamahorn said she was punched in the face and kicked, causing a blackened eye and broken facial bones.
One witness who attempted to intervene on the victim’s behalf said he, too, was threatened, but wasn’t assaulted by the two men.
As Scamahorn lay on the floor in her own blood and vomit after the attack, police wouldn’t let a bartender provide her aid and repeatedly referred to her as a man, the victim told media outlets.
A responding police officer said in a report that he thought Scamahorn appeared intoxicated because he was unable to get a statement from the victim. Scamahorn said she had not been drinking and witnesses told police she wasn’t intoxicated.
“I wasn’t able to talk,” Scamahorn said, because “fluid was at the back of my throat. I couldn’t breathe.”
The suspects made voluntary statements to detectives at the office of their attorney where they went shortly after surveillance photos were released by police on Tuesday. The suspects denied calling the victim “derogatory names” and accused her of “causing a scene,” The Spokesman-Review reported.
Flippen admitted punching the victim once, but both denied kicking her, according to court documents. “Flippen and Fessler both said they assumed Scamahorn was a poorly dressed man even though she was wearing a skirt,” the newspaper reported, citing court documents.
