It's always going to be something but there hasn't been anything in a while that has really got under my skin. And oddly enough, it comes from the state of Arkansas....AGAIN.
How ironic is that? Arkansas law enforcement fails again. Nice job, out there. I don't know what you people are doing but if I ever have the misfortune of getting murdered, assaulted or accused of a crime remind me not to do it in Arkansas.
On December 21,2014, Jacie Leopold was attending her company Christmas party with her co-workers from the Back Porch Grill in Hot Springs where she was employed as a full time chef. Christmas festivities were in full swing, with alcohol included and according to Jacie, the staff was the type to be a little intolerant, using humor as a weapon against homosexual and LGBT members of the community. Jacie had begun her transition from male to female and had concerns that she would be ridiculed or worse. Her transition was becoming obvious and she was very concerned about how her co-workers might react.
I can't blame her. After my experiences there, it is hardly known as a hotbed of compassion and tolerance.
But back to that party. Drinking and mingling and then...Jacie doesn't see the actual swing but she sees who does it. She opens her eyes and realizes she's on the floor and she's been knocked out. People are standing around, the way people do at a fight, in a circle. She got out to her car and was taken to the hospital, where doctors told her she has fractured her eye socket and cheekbone. When the police came, they did the usual, pictures,statement and Jacie told them who had attacked her. When Jacie and her father tried to pursue an investigation and an arrest of the attackers [she did know who did it,after all] they were told that there was NO investigation! WTF?!
No investigation,even after pursuing it through a judge, an attorney and the sheriff, they were told this didn't have the evidence to support a hate crime. The lawyer said that since they were in the South people would be scratching their heads and saying,"What is that?", as if being transgendered was a disease. She would be blamed for putting herself at risk. Way to blame the victim. Jacie shut down. She left her job. But that wasn't the end of it. Her former employer sent her a letter through her lawyer, trying to sue her for making the assault up. I don't know how or why anyone would bring all that hell on themselves by fabricating a story like that, not to mention it is illegal to file a false police report in addition to the cost of a lawyer. That town just would not stop, even after she was involved in a severe car accident that she was not at fault for that yet again, the cops declined to prosecute.There's more but if I keep going I'll never get this posted and I can [and probably will] get email on this.
This story would be almost unbelievable if I didn't know better than I do, living in a world full of injustice and hate. The original website this blog was attached to may be long gone, but we started it to call attention to people and situations that cried out for justice where it was denied, or in Jacie's case, completely, grossly ignored. We live in a world where we've come to fear what is different and intolerant to change, which is sad and a situation I find reprehensible. I raised my daughter to believe we are all equal and deserve love and respect, without exception and that we can trust all police to serve and protect us. It breaks my heart to know that she grew up in a world where neither is the case.
