LA police investigating forceful removal of a group of transgender women and a gay man from a Los Angeles club as a possible hate crime.
Security personnel pushing and dragging two transgender ladies and a gay man out of the bar was extensively shared on social media over the weekend.
An accusation about the incident at Las Perlas bar Friday was registered with police and investigators are examining the incident, said the respective police department.
Khloe Rios, who recorded the video, said she and a group of co-workers from Bienestar Human Services, a nonprofit organization that focuses on health issues in Latino and LGBTQ communities, were enjoying dinner when a straight couple surrounded them and started shouting slurs.
She and her colleagues ignored the criticisms but then the woman became more aggressive and spat at them, shoved her and slapped a co-worker.
LA Police Investigating Forceful Removal of Trans
The group stood up and gathered together to defend each other and that’s when security personnel came and asked everyone to leave. They accompanied the couple out but became offensive with them, pushing and even dragging one of her co-workers by the neck, she said.
“We thought the security personnel were going to defend us but rather they dumped us like garbage,” Rios said.
After a protest outside the bar that forced the bar to close Saturday night, bar owner, Cedd Moses apologized to the transgender community and declared the security firm operating at the bar would be replaced.
