Philadelphia Black Trans Woman’s Death Called Part of an ‘Epidemic of Violence’ Against the Trans Community
On Monday, a 29-year-old Black trans woman was fatally shot in Philadelphia, and city officials have called the killing an “epidemic of violence” committed against the city’s trans community. At the very least, it’s evidence that the movement to protect Black lives needs to be more inclusive of Black trans people and the Black LGBTQ community, in general.
Here’s what we know as reported by NBC News:
Officers found Mia Green, a Philadelphia resident, shot in the neck in the passenger’s seat of a car driven by Abdullah lbn El-Amin Jaamia when he was stopped Monday morning for running a stop sign, a police statement said.
During the traffic stop, Jaamia, 28, “exited the front driver’s door and approached Police stating that his passenger was shot.”
Officers then provided a police escort as Jaamia drove Green to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 8:30 a.m.
Upon further investigation, Jaamia was charged with murder and related offenses on Tuesday, police said.
Authorities did not provide details surrounding the investigation, possible motive and arrest, or specify the relationship between the suspect and victim. It was not immediately clear if Jaamia has a lawyer.
The Office of LGBT Affairs for Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney posted a tweet Tuesday expressing that the office is “devastated” to learn of Green’s death. The tweet included a statement from the city’s Office of LGBT Affairs.
Community, our Office is devastated to learn of the killing of a member of our city’s LGBTQ community—Mia Green, a Black transgender woman. Please find our full statement here.https://t.co/OlgOwzof2Q pic.twitter.com/kBteEYPyt1
— Philadelphia Mayor’s Office of LGBT Affairs (@PhillyLGBTgov) September 29, 2020
“This latest act of violence against a member of our community is a somber reminder of the epidemic of violence against trans individuals. It is a crisis that cannot be allowed to persist any further. The countless painful losses experienced during this year alone—especially within our transgender communities of color—remind us that there is much work to be done in the pursuit of full equality, respect, and justice for us all.”
Green’s death comes just a few months after the dismembered body of 36-year-old Black trans woman Dominique “Rem’mie” Fells was discovered in Philadelphia’s Schuylkill River on June 8.
According to a report by the Human Rights Campaign, Green would be the at least 29th victim of fatal violence against trans and gender-nonconforming people in the U.S. this year, the majority of whom have been Black or Latinx. The report includes a list of the 28 victims on record this year. According to the National Center for Transgender Equality, by August, “the number of transgender people suspected of being murdered in 2020 has surpassed the total for all of 2019.”
