Drunk D.C. Cop Gets Off Easy After Shooting 3 Transgender Women
alternet.orgA Washington, D.C. police officer who fired multiple shots into a car with three transgender women and their friends is getting off easy. The officer, 48-year-old Kenneth Furr, was sentenced yesterday “to three years of supervised probation, a $150 fine, and 100 hours of community service,” the Washington Blade reports. The transgender community in D.C. has reacted with outrage.
The D.C. Superior Court Judge, Russell Canan, also sentenced Furr “to five years in prison but suspended all but 14 months of the prison term and credited Furr with the 14 months he already served between the time of his arrest and his trial last October,” the publication reported. The officer was released from jail while he awaits sentencing for his conviction on charges of assault and solicitation for prostitution. Furr was acquitted on the more serious charges of assault with intent to kill with a weapon.
The judge also ordered the officer to stay away from D.C.’s well known areas for transgender prostitution.
“This result is the product of a legal system that constantly devalues trans lives, particularly trans people of color,” Jason Terry, an activist with the D.C. Trans Coalition, told the Blade. “Officer Furr’s defense team actively sought to portray the victims as somehow deserving of this violence, and apparently they succeeded. If roles had been reversed and a black trans woman had gotten drunk and shot a gun at a police officer, the results would be drastically different.”
The case revolves around events that occurred in August 2011. On a Washington, D.C. street, Furr asked one of the transgender woman for sex for money. After the woman refused, Furr followed her to a CVS store and, when he was outside the store, pointed a gun at the transgender woman. After the officer drove away, the group of transgender woman and their male friends followed him, until Furr stopped his car and fired his gun at the car.
Then, “one of the male friends driving the vehicle ducked to avoid being shot and unintentionally rammed the car into Furr’s car, witnesses testified,” the Blade reports. “Furr responded by climbing on the hood of the car occupied by the transgender women and their friends and fired five times through the front windshield, causing three of the occupants to suffer non-fatal gunshot wounds.”
When D.C. police came to the scene, they arrested Furr, who had a “blood alcohol level twice the legal limit under D.C. law,” according to the publication.
The Washington Blade also reports that Furr’s attorney seems to have convinced the jury that Furr was acting in self-defense, which is why he was not convicted on the more serious charges.
While Furr is getting off relatively easy legally, the case will have ramifications for his job. D.C. police spokesperson Gwendolyn Crump told the Blade that Furr “has been suspended without pay and that the department will follow its standard procedure for dealing with an officer convicted of a felony.” The standard procedure, according to the Blade, is that “a felony conviction, especially one associated with violence, usually results in the firing of a police officer.”
Violence Against Trans Women Links Roundup (Oct 26 to Oct 27)
In Brazil, trans woman stoned to death: A 39 year old trans person was stoned to death in the city of Aracaju, Brazil. Madonna received mortal blows and was admitted to a hospital in Aracaju, the capital of the state of Sergipe, Brazil, in the early hours of Friday last week. She died four days later from severe head injuries. Maria Livia Vieira, one of Madona’s neighbor told the Brazilian portal infonet: ‘She was a very funny, happy person, who loved to dance and be playful, she didn’t hurt anyone.’ (Dan Littauer, Gay Star News, Oct. 26, 2012)
Off-duty D.C. police officer convicted of assault with a deadly weapon: A D.C. police officer who jumped onto the hood of a packed car and fired five gunshots at its occupants minutes after offering a transgender woman $500 for sex was found guilty of assault with a deadly weapon Friday. Kenneth D. Furr, 48, also was convicted of solicitation. He was acquitted of the most serious charge he faced, assault with intent to kill, and six related offenses stemming from an Aug. 26, 2011, argument that turned violent. Furr faces a maximum of 10 years in prison for the assault conviction and 90 days for solicitation when he is sentenced in January. He could have faced up to 30 years behind bars if he had been convicted of all the charges against him. (Keith L. Alexander, Washington Post, Oct. 26, 2012)
Jury frees man accused of shooting trans woman: [We believe the victim is misidentified in the linked article as a cross-dressing man. Since the victim lives and presents as a woman that is why we are identifying her as such here.] A jury acquitted Brian Jeremy White of armed robbery and aggravated assault Friday, according to court officials. White was accused of stealing a purse from Hayes and shooting her in the left leg during the crime on Sept. 11, 2011. Defense attorney James Finkelstein and District Attorney Greg Edwards disagreed as to what brought the jury to the acquittal. (Pete Skiba, Albany Herald, Oct. 26, 2012)
D.C. cop convicted of assault with dangerous weapon in trans shooting case: An off-duty D.C. police officer accused of firing his service revolver into a car occupied by three transgender women and two male friends in August 2011 was convicted Friday of assault with a dangerous weapon and solicitation for prostitution. But a D.C. Superior Court jury also found Officer Kenneth Furr, 48, not guilty of six other charges, including the more serious offense of assault with intent to kill while armed. Although three of them suffered non-life-threatening bullet wounds and two weren’t hit, prosecutors said any of the five could have been killed. “I really wonder what the jury heard and how they could decide not to find intent to kill,” said transgender activist Jeri Hughes. “You don’t fire a gun several times at people and not have intent to kill.” “It sounds like the defense did a good job in demonizing the victims,” said Hughes, who was among many LGBT activists who viewed the incident as another in series of violent attacks against LGBT people in the city over the past several years. (Lou Chibbaro Jr., Washington Blade, Oct. 27, 2012)
Women’s transgender status may have swayed jury to acquit shooting suspect: [We believe the victim is misidentified in the linked article as a cross-dressing man. Since the victim lives and presents as a woman that is why we are identifying her as such here.] A southwest Georgia prosecutor says he suspects a jury acquitted a suspect charged in a shooting because the victim was a man who testified wearing women’s clothes. Brian Jeremy White was found not guilty of armed robbery and aggravated assault charges Friday. He was accused of shooting Hayes in the leg while stealing her purse in September 2011. During the trial, Hayes wore women’s clothing and pearl earrings to court when she testified. District Attorney Greg Edwards says the jury’s verdict was probably influence by “the victim’s lifestyle.” (Associated Press, The Republic, Oct. 27, 2012)
Violence Against Trans Women Links Roundup (Oct 15 to Oct 19)
Jury Selection Begins for Officer Accused of Shooting Trans Women: MPD Officer Kenneth Furr is accused of opening fire on five people as he stood on the hood of their car. Furr has pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from the August 2011 incident. Authorities say he used his service weapon to fire through the windshield of a car, striking two transgender women and their male friend. (NBC4 Washington, Oct. 15, 2012)
Transgender Women’s Constitutional Challenge To Sharia Law Fails In Malaysia: In October, Judge Siti Mariah Ahmad, of the high court of Seremban in Negeri Sembilan, one of Malaysia’s thirteen states, struck down a first-ever constitutional challenge brought by four Malay trans women who sought the court’s protection for being unfairly targeted by Article 66 [which criminalizes those assigned male at birth “who dress in women’s clothes and behave like women in public”] of the Negeri Sembilan sharia law. Malaysian rights advocate, Thilaga, working in the Justice for Sisters campaign for the rights of mak nyah, says, “Transgender people don’t report violations by police or religious officers because they don’t expect justice. Often, they don’t know their rights and lack resources to go to court to fight charges.” The four applicants in the Negeri Sembilan case attest to this. (The New Civil Rights Movement, Oct. 16, 2012)
Trial for Kenneth Furr, D.C. police officer accused of solicitation, begins: [In correct language is used in this story, e.g. giving less authority to a trans woman’s preferred name, using “gays” as a noun rather than an adjective, and confusing being gay (sexuality) with being trans (gender identity).] Chloe Moore, a transgender woman, testified she was walking near 5th and K Streets last Aug. when she was approached by Furr, who she says was intoxicated. Moore says Furr continued to stalk her, offering money for sex despite her refusals. She says he stopped when he was confronted by other individuals, some of whom are also transgender. An arresting officer testified he heard shots and arrived to see Furr, gun in hand, jumping up and down on the hood of the Chrysler. According to one witness, Furr was yelling, “All you [expletives] are going to die.” (Sam Ford, ABC 7 News, Oct. 17, 2012)
Malaysian AIDS Council criticizes transgender court ruling decision: Government-funded organization has criticized last week’s Islamic court decision ruling against four transgender women. The trans women were challenging an Islamic law that prohibits cross-dressing by arguing it infringes their constitutionally protected human rights of non-discrimination and freedom of expression. Justice for Sisters said that Judge Ahmad had failed to consider the fact that ‘many transwomen, including the four applicants in the case, have been subjected to physical, verbal, emotional and sexual abuse by officers employed by the Islamic religious department’. (Anna Leach, Gay Star News, Oct. 18, 2012)
Trial begins for D.C. cop charged with shooting trans women in car: D.C. Superior Court trial began on Wednesday for D.C. police officer Kenneth Furr, who was arrested while off-duty in August 2011 for allegedly firing his service revolver into the front windshield of a car in which three transgender women and two male friends were sitting. Two of the women and one of the men suffered non-life threatening gunshot wounds in the incident. Earlier this year, a Superior Court grand jury handed down a 9-count indictment against Furr that included six counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, one count of assault with intent to kill while armed, and two counts of solicitation for prostitution. Prosecutors have not listed charges against Furr as hate crimes. (Lou Chibbaro Jr., Washington Blade, Oct. 19, 2012)
