The 22-year-old transgender victim of a
beat down at a suburban Baltimore McDonald's says the attack was a
hate crime.
A three-minute video showing Chrissy
Lee Polis being viciously kicked, punched and dragged by two teenaged
girls – one 14, the other 18 – went viral on Friday. In the
video, one employee and a patron attempt to intervene, but most of
the witnesses stand idly by and several men can be heard laughing in
the background. Toward the end of the video, Polis appears to have a
seizure after one of the suspects kicks her in the head.
According to the Baltimore Sun,
the McDonald's employee who recorded the video has been fired.
Polis told the paper that the attack
was “definitely a hate crime.”
“They said, 'That's a dude, that's a
dude and she's in the female bathroom,'” said Polis. “They spit
in my face.”
“I knew they were taping me; I told
the guy to stop,” she added. “They didn't help me. They didn't
do nothing for me.”
The video was taken down from YouTube
by site administrators, who said it violated the site's policies, but
returned on several other sites, including the popular Drudge Report
and World
Star Hip Hop.
The attack took place on April 18,
police said. Both suspects are being prosecuted by police.
According to the police report, the
suspects said the fight was “over using a bathroom.”
Polis also told the paper that she
intends to sue the fast food chain.
“Anyone in my predicament should not
be afraid to walk the streets,” Polis said. “They should not
have to go into a restaurant and get gawked at and made fun of. They
shouldn't be afraid to leave the house. It's just wrong.” (The
video is embedded in the right panel of this page.)