A transgender woman was allegedly called slurs and then attacked in Renton by a group of mostly teens who left her with multiple injuries that will put her out of work for an undetermined amount of time and require surgery.
According to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office (KCPAO), four people — three juvenile teens, one adult — were arrested and accused of assaulting a transgender woman and calling her slurs, resulting in second-degree assault and hate crime charges.
According to charging documents, these charges stem from an incident that occurred at the Renton Transit Center at about 8:18 p.m. Sept. 15, where four males assaulted Nikki Armstrong.
Documents state that Armstrong said that the males were harassing people at the transit center, including a person in a wheelchair, so she told the males to stop. Armstrong remembers that after she told the males to stop, they began to run after her, yelled homophobic statements, tackled her, and then proceeded to punch, kick, and strangle her to the point of becoming nearly unconscious.
One of the suspects held Armstrong in a chokehold while the three other suspects assaulted her. Documents also state that Armstrong suffered a broken nose, a broken occipital bone and a broken orbital bone.
Officers reviewed video footage from the incident and obtained a description of the suspects. Documents state that soon after, an officer spotted two teens, who were brothers, about a minute away from where the alleged incident occurred, wearing clothing that matched two of the suspects’ descriptions.
The first two arrested suspects were a 15-year-old boy and a 17-year-old boy. According to KCPAO spokesperson Casey McNerthney, they were charged in juvenile court with second-degree assault and hate crime. They pleaded not guilty and were placed on electronic home monitoring.
McNerthney said a third suspect, who is 16 years old, was arrested on Sept. 18 and charged on Sept. 23. The prosecutor’s office asked the judge to find probable cause for second-degree assault and hate crime, and the 16-year-old suspect was subsequently placed on electronic home monitoring, McNerthney said.
Additionally, Ramodre Elias Edwards, 25, of Renton, was arrested in connection with the incident on Sept. 18, when he turned himself in, and his bail was set at $300,000. McNerthney said the KCPAO asked the judge to find probable cause for second-degree assault and a hate crime.
According to charging documents, on Sept. 23, the KCPAO charged Edwards with second-degree assault and hate crime. Documents state that Edwards turned himself in to the Renton Police Department after his father recognized a photo of him that the department had posted while seeking a suspect in the case.
The alleged victim’s thoughts
Armstrong, who said that she is transgender and uses she and her pronouns, told the Renton Reporter that, despite the incident occurring in Renton, she doesn’t believe it reflects the true nature of the city. Armstrong said that Renton is the city where she has felt the safest since she came out as a transgender person.
Armstrong said that since the attack, many Renton residents have offered her kind words of support, including city council members and the vice principal of Renton High School. She said the support from the community didn’t surprise her.
Armstrong said her GoFundMe has done really well, with over $32,000 in donations. Armstrong said the GoFundMe aims to help cover expenses from lost wages due to an undetermined amount of time out of work, and to cover medical bills.
According to Armstrong, this incident occurred after she saw a group of teens at the transit center harassing someone, prompting her to tell them to stop, which led to an exchange of words. The boys then cornered her, and she pulled out her pepper spray and attempted to spray the males after they began coming at her, yelling homophobic slurs.
“The main pain I’ve been in is when I was down on the ground, they were stomping on me, and kicking me in the ribs,” Armstrong said. “So my ribs are in absolute agony. It’s still really hard to stand up, and move around and breathe.”
Armstrong said that her face is still very swollen, but now she can open her eye that was previously swollen shut. She’s also been having breathing problems because the wall of her sputum and the nasal bridge were damaged from the attack. She said she is going to require surgery to fix her breathing.
Despite the group allegedly yelling homophobic slurs at her, Armstrong said that she does not feel that she was picked out because of her identity, but that the group was just trying to find whatever they could to be hurtful. Despite her feeling that her identity was not why she was attacked, she said the experience was still disappointing and hurtful.
“It made me feel like I was almost in another time, because people don’t get cornered and thrown on the ground and beaten and called slurs here in Seattle,” Armstrong said. “So to have that happen was disappointing. And, I’m sure that at some point, I’m gonna process this enough for it to make me upset or emotional, but I’m still stuck in being disappointed.”
This story will be updated as developments arise.
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