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matthaisw · 3 years

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Transgender activist beaten by police on wing of jet

A Needles, California-based transgender activist Xochi Guerrero, 38, (formerly known as Marcelino Guerrero) was beaten by police Saturday morning on the wing of a Noatak Airways Boeing 737 after she fled from security at McCarran airport in Las Vegas. Airport police released a statement Saturday evening indicating Guerrero was initially being taken into custody after she staged an impromptu demonstration against the police dismantling of a shrine to transgender sex worker LaQuanna McDermott. McDermott died during a police-involved shooting on Fremont street in August and her shrine was located on East Carson avenue near the site of her shooting, until it was taken down by police last week. Guerrero's demonstrations in the past, which are well known to Las Vegas residents, have typically involved performance art routines that include nudity and public defecation as methods of raising awareness of the challenges that transgender people face in the traditionally male-dominated STEM fields. Guerrero's previous demonstrations have taken place at locations throughout the Las Vegas area, including on the famous strip, but were generally approved by city officials ahead of time, said a spokesperson for the Las Vegas office of public integrity. In this case however, Xochi Guerrero likely felt that the dismantling of McDermott’s shrine called for a more immediate response and due to her status as a person suffering from homelessness, was unable to fill out the required paperwork.

After complaints from travelers regarding the protest, airport security moved in to take Guerrero into custody. According to eyewitnesses, the police were using officially banned methods of subdual including chokeholds, to bring her into custody. Guerrero was able to flee the security officers and ran out of the terminal and onto the airport tarmac, where she was nearly struck by aircraft service vehicles. The activist subsequently managed to run onto the runway and clamber up onto the Noatak airways jet by mounting the engine cowling. It was at that point that the Clark county criminal response team arrived at the scene. Special agent Curt Wroclavski, 46, frustrated at Guerrero's refusal to debark from the aircraft, and ignoring orders from his commanding officer, used his police baton to repeatedly strike Guerrero while she was 'praying for justice', according to onlookers. This resulted in the activist removing her socks and shoes and attempting to escape officer Wroclavski by climbing up onto the jet's winglet. Eyewitnesses on the jet used their phones to record the 'brutal and violent' attempts by Wroclavski, a white male officer, to remove Guerrero from the aircraft wing. Noatak Airways passenger Kelsey Baum of Vancouver, Washington, told reporters the beating of Guerrero was 'clearly racist and obviously a hate crime'. Another passenger Dr. Sunny Choi of Beaverton, Oregon, told reporters that Wroclavski was 'violating Guerrero's sense of sanctuary' on the wing and she should have been allowed to remain on the aircraft. Following Guerrero laying down on the wing after being beaten, officer Wroclavski, in direct disregard of the transgender woman's safety and of approved police procedures, allegedly knocked her from the winglet onto the tarmac using his foot, according to witnesses present at the scene. Guerrero sustained unspecified injuries in the fall. An ambulance transported Guerrero to St Benedict's medical center in Las Vegas where she is currently in unknown condition.

Noatak Airways spokesperson Ebony Mcfadden stated that the airline unequivocally supports the rights of transgender people and the rights of all activists of color to protest inequality and have offered Guerrero a free flight to any of their domestic destinations. Meanwhile, the Clark county criminal response team superintendent Demarion Crawford, has placed Wroclavski on unpaid leave and announced his intention to fire the allegedly transgressing officer as soon as the investigation into Wroclavski’s actions is concluded. The investigation into Wroclavski's alleged misconduct is expected to be wrapped up by Monday afternoon. Clark county prosecuting attorney, Rosalia Ocampo, indicated Sunday morning that her office will unveil charges against Wroclawski and airport security personnel as early as next week. Two security staff members have already been fired by the airport management, but their names are currently being withheld as specified by their employment contract. In her official statement on the incident, Ocampo noted that during this holiday season and amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic it is vitally important to remember that the rights to free expression are not confined only to 'officially sanctioned spaces' but should occur whenever and wherever transgender activists feel the need to protest unequal justice. Local Las Vegas activist Yolanda Pimentel told reporters outside the St Benedict medical center that Guerrero's beating shows the need to defund and divest in law enforcement because ‘people of color and gender non-conforming individuals are disproportionately targeted by police’. In addition, Nevada governor, democrat Stan Czerny, released a statement Sunday calling for immediate justice in the Guerrero case and promised to redirect state funds for covid relief to communities of color. No official update on Xochi Guerrero's condition is available.

Note: this account is wholly fictional and any resemblance to actual persons or events is completely unintentional.

#activism #wokememes

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