this post was submitted on 26 Aug 2023
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politics

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[–] kescusay 61 points 1 year ago (2 children)

It's horrifying that she's jailed for having been attacked. What the fuck is wrong with you, Arizona?

[–] inclementimmigrant 60 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The same thing that is wrong with almost all cops across the US.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The LAPD openly acts as bodyguards for the proud boys now, a group considered terrorists in Canada

[–] Ensign_Crab 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Police have no duty to protect, so they're choosing to protect the proud boys.

[–] Zippy 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

How do you know she did not start the physical violence? The fact that she did not call the police is not some brave feature as stated. The fact that others called the police is somewhat more likely that she may have been in the wrong.

This article is extremely biased. Do people just automatically assume anything written on the web is the absolute truth? They didn't bother to even mention any other side to this story.

[–] kescusay 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Oh, come on... Four drunk guys start harassing a woman, then get aggressive and belligerent when they find out she's trans, and somehow she must have started it?

This is her:

Look at her. Does she look scary? How likely do you think it is that she was walking along looking for a fight with four guys? Given the violence trans women all too often receive at the hands of men, it's much more likely she was legitimately scared for her life.

[–] Zippy -2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Seriously? I don't know what happened but are you saying someone can't start kicking people out pull out a knife or simply punch someone based on their size. This is a completely bias article but people take it as fact. So biased they use words like she 'courageously' didn't call the police but instead other people called the police in her.

I am glad we now use looks alone to determine if someone might be innocent or guilty.

[–] kescusay 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Tell you what... I'll concede that it's technically possible she instigated the violence if you'll concede that it's statistically far, far more likely that she was yet another victim of anti-trans violence, followed by bias from the police. (FYI, trans women frequently don't call the police when they've been victimized, out of fear of being victimized even more.)

[–] Modern_medicine_isnt 2 points 1 year ago

read the comment from someone who did some digging and found that she has a significant police record in multiple states, including warrants for her arrest. There is clearly more to this story than we have here. Those warrants could still be BS, but we here don't know. The takeaway is that if a situation seems clearly cut and dry... it almost never is.

[–] Zippy 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I will absolutely concede trans people are much more likely to be the victim of violence. I know enough to see this first hand. How does that in any way negate that she might be there instigator?

[–] kescusay 2 points 1 year ago

It doesn't, but it means I'm far more willing to give her the benefit of the doubt until there's solid evidence that she was, in fact, the one who started the violence. (And pepper-spraying someone who's threatening you doesn't count.)

[–] gAlienLifeform 38 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Thanks for posting this, I hope more people hear about this story and Epona's able to raise the $500k for bail and more to get a good defense team

Also, to put that bail amount in perspective - Andrew Lester (the guy who shot Ralph Yarl in the head) only had to post $200k.

[–] TurboDiesel 32 points 1 year ago

And Trump's was $200k as well. Apparently existing while trans is worse than trying to kill democracy.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago

Or a treasonous "billionaire" who still needed a bail bondsman.

[–] LovingHippieCat 32 points 1 year ago

She was attacked and defended herself so she got arrested and her attackers got off completely free. That's some peak school zero tolerance policy bullshit. It's also completely insane she has a 500k bail but Trump, who tried to overturn and destroy our democracy so that he could establish a dictatorship only has 200k. This singular case should be provided when people disagree that Trans people are being attacked and persecuted all across the country.

[–] randon31415 17 points 1 year ago (1 children)

In "So-called Flagstaff, Arizona".

Um, I think the name of the town is not is question here.

[–] Seasm0ke 20 points 1 year ago (1 children)

IGD places so-called in every article as a way to call attention to Land Back movements and acknowledge that every city and town is on stolen land.

[–] randon31415 7 points 1 year ago

Ah, that makes sense. Thank you!

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

I don't care if you don't like guns. Arm up, learn to shoot, and protect yourselves out there. One political side has been stockpiling for decades (it's even part of their culture) while the other side is willingly disarming themselves.

[–] [email protected] 31 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Curious how that would help here?

She got arrested for being the victim. If she shoots her attacker do you think the cops wouldn't have still arrested her?

Unless you meant protect ourselves from the cops, but running gun battles with the cops isn't going to help anyone.

[–] IchNichtenLichten 0 points 1 year ago

How about no?

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

It felt like there wasn't any context to the actual circumstances of her arrest, especially considering the exorbitantly high bail amount. I looked around and the most information I could actually find was through a motion filed by her attorney.

She is being held for aggravated assault x2 along with some other misdemeanor charges with an implication that the charges will be elevated to attempted murder. Her attorney also notes that she has numerous other felony charges over the years, many but not all of which were later plead down to misdemeanor charges. Epona is also noted as homeless and transient that had outstanding warrants for failing to appear for some of her charges in other states. She has outstanding warrants for this in at least one other state. Assuming that it is true that she is transient and the DA intends to upgrade her charges to attempted murder, this at least provides some idea as to why the bail amount seems ludicrously high on the surface.

I realize that virtually all trans individuals face an extremely unwelcoming response from society that can often include abject violence and I feel true empathy for those that carry that burden. In this particular case it seems that there are lots of details that may deviate from the narrative that this particular individual was simply attacked by a group of men while minding her own business. Perhaps I'm wrong, but the original link is very one-sided which is why I went looking for more information. There are no journalistic articles covering the attack, but the motion filed by Epona's lawyer is moderately revealing.

https://www.lookoutphx.org/blog/flagstaff-trans-woman-attacked-facing-felony-charges/

[–] raynethackery 3 points 1 year ago

I'd like to donate but that donation site seems sketchy. Anyone have any information about it? Is it legit?