Hate Crime Charges Filed In McDonald's Beating Of Transgender Woman

By Margaret Hartmann | May 17, 2011 | 3:30pm

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Yesterday 18-year-old Teonna Brown was indicted on assault and hate crime charges for the attack on Chrissy Lee Polis at a Baltimore area McDonald’s last month. The 14-year-old shown in the viral video of the beating is facing the same charges in juvenile court.

Brown, who was arrested at the same McDonald’s on assault charges last year, says she’s innocent and was just defending herself. Yes, that’s the conclusion anyone would draw after seeing video Brown beating Polis to the ground, going into a seizure. If you had a different impression of Brown after watching the video, it’s probably the media’s fault. As her lawyer says, “She’s a very nice young lady who lives with her mom and is not the person the press has made her out to be.”