DALLAS _ Dallas police are investigating a potential hate crime after a transgender woman was assaulted Friday.
Officers spoke to the victim at a hospital around 11:30 p.m., several hours after the attack at the Royal Crest Apartments in the east Oak Cliff neighborhood.
The victim told police she was attacked after a minor traffic accident at the apartment complex. Police said the woman knew her attackers and that they used homophobic slurs during the attack, which was recorded on video.
Apparent cellphone footage of the incident that was posted on social media shows a man in a white shirt punching the woman. A large crowd formed around the melee and other attackers joined in, kicking the woman. A group of women carried her away from the fight at the end of the video.
Family identified the victim as 23-year-old Muhlaysia Booker, according to KXAS-TV. She was recovering with a broken wrist and facial fractures, the station reported.
Booker's father, Pierre Booker, called the person responsible for the attack "a coward." Her grandmother, Debora Booker, told the station she hopes "these people find it in their hearts to accept people just like God does."
Officials are reviewing the assault to determine whether it will be classified as a hate crime, police said.
Mayor Mike Rawlings saw the video after Dallas Police Chief U. Renee Hall notified him about the attack, he said in a written statement Saturday.
"I am extremely angry about what appears to be mob violence against this woman," Rawlings said. "I am in contact with the chief and she assured me that the Dallas Police Department is fully investigating, including the possibility that this was a hate crime.
Leslie McMurray, transgender education and advocacy coordinator for the Resource Center in Dallas, said she was appalled by the video. The center provides support to the city's LGBTQ community, and McMurray said it will reach out to the victim. She is worried for the woman's safety.
"The scary part to me is, if this was the apartment complex where she lives, where does she go home?" McMurray said. "Where does she go home and feel safe?"
.png?w=600)
