Content warning: This article mentions acts of violence and police brutality against Black trans people.
A Black transgender man, Tony McDade of Tallahassee, Florida, was killed in an officer-involved shooting on Wednesday morning. The news arises on the heels of a week in which a white woman threatened a Black man, Christian Cooper, by faking a distress call to police in New York City and another complying Black citizen, George Floyd, died by a police officer’s knee in Minneapolis.
McDade, who was initially referred to as a woman by the local news station WTXL, was allegedly wielding a gun when he was shot five times by an officer responding to an earlier attack. In a recorded press conference at the scene of the shooting, Tallahassee Police Department Chief Lawrence Revelle explained to reporters the sequence of events that transpired.
“Our officer called out, ‘Shots fired,’” Revelle said. “He said over the radio that the suspect had pointed a gun at him. The suspect was in possession of a handgun, and a bloody knife was found at the scene.”
Revelle subsequently described the suspect as a Black woman in dark clothing, despite McDade’s trans masculine identity. The suspect had been pursued for an earlier stabbing.
According to TPD, the responding police officer has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation. The name of the responding officer has not been released to the press. When them. reached out for comment on this story, a TPD representative had no further comment beyond a press release posted the same day.
Facebook Live videos posted by residents of the Leon Arms Apartments, the community where McDade was killed, directly contradict statements made by TPD.
“[The police officer] jumped right out [of] the car and started shooting,” said resident Kim Simmons, who is later heard telling another witness that law enforcement officials “got out the car blasting.”
Another resident filming live across from Simmons exclaimed, “‘They said, ‘Stop moving, n****r!’ And then they shot him after he stopped moving.”
An eyewitness statement was provided by Leon Arms resident Clifford Butler in an interview with WSFU Media shortly after the shooting, and his recollection of events match those of others at the scene. “I never heard, ‘Get down, freeze, I’m an officer,’” he told the news station. “I never heard nothing. I just heard gunshots.”
Butler described McDade as standing still and not moving when confronted by police. He reiterated that the officer jumped out of his vehicle with a gun in hand and shot without warning while McDade stood still.
A chilling Facebook Live video posted hours before McDade’s death raises further questions about what took place. McDade said he was viciously attacked by four individuals and vowed to retaliate against the assailants. During the hour-long message, McDade spoke at length about a suicide mission in which he vowed to assault those who would attempt to prevent him from seeking revenge.
While McDade was brandishing a gun in the video, it is unclear if the weapon was in his possession at the time of his death. Multiple witnesses at Leon Arms said McDade did not have a gun in hand at the time of the shooting.
In a statement, Equality Florida Executive Director Nadine Smith said the incident is reflective of the plight of Black trans people in Florida.
“Florida is an epicenter of anti-trans violence, with seven Black transgender women having been brutally murdered over the last two years,” Smith said. “And often, these murders involve misgendering by the TPD and local media.”
