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Trial begins for D.C. cop charged with shooting trans women in car

One man guilty, another acquitted in unrelated anti-lesbian attack in Columbia Heights

Published

12 years ago

on

Gay News, Washington Blade, Crime

Metro DC Police, gay news, Washington Blade

A police spokesperson said officer Kenneth Furr has been suspended indefinitely without pay since shortly after his arrest. (Washington Blade photo by Phil Reese)

One trial ended and another began this week in separate cases in which police and prosecutors said lesbians and transgender women were victims of violent attacks in the summer of 2011.

A D.C. Superior Court jury on Wednesday found Christian Washington guilty of simple assault and threats to do bodily harm in connection with a July 2011 assault against lesbian Yazzmen Morse and four of her friends outside the Columbia Heights Metro station.

The jury also found Dalonte Washington, Christian Washington’s brother, not guilty of a charge of simple assault against at least two of Morse’s lesbian friends in the same incident – Kiara Johnson and Dominique KcKee. The charges against the two brothers were classified as hate crimes.

In a separate case, a D.C. Superior Court trial began on Wednesday for D.C. police officer Kenneth Furr, who was arrested while off-duty in August 2011 for allegedly firing his service revolver into the front windshield of a car in which three transgender women and two male friends were sitting. Two of the women and one of the men suffered non-life threatening gunshot wounds in the incident.

The incident drew expressions of shock and outrage from LGBT activists, who organized a protest vigil at the scene of the shooting the day after the incident occurred.

Earlier this year, a Superior Court grand jury handed down a 9-count indictment against Furr that included six counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, one count of assault with intent to kill while armed, and two counts of solicitation for prostitution.

One of the transgender women told police that the incident began when Furr offered to pay her for sex while the two crossed paths inside a CVS drugstore at 5th and Massachusetts Ave., N.W. The woman said Furr became angry when she refused his offer, and a verbal altercation began between Furr and a male friend who was with her.

A police arrest affidavit says Furr threatened the friend with a gun outside the CVS store. It says the friend, another male friend, the transgender woman who had been approached by Furr, and two of her transgender female friends later followed Furr in their car after watching him drive away. They said their intent was to follow him while attempting to call police to have him arrested, the affidavit says.

The affidavit says Furr stopped his car and pointed his gun at the other car, prompting the male driver to duck for cover, which resulted in his car colliding with Furr’s car. At that time, Furr climbed on the hood of the car that hit his car and fired his gun several times through the front windshield, striking three of the five terrified occupants, the affidavit says.

In opening arguments at his trial on Wednesday, Furr’s lawyer argued that Furr believed his life was in danger after noticing the car with the people he had been arguing with was following him through the streets of D.C., according to D.C. Trans Coalition member and attorney Jeff Light, who attended the trial.

Light said defense attorney David Knight argued that Furr acted in self-defense when he fired his gun.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Worm, one of the prosecutors in the case, disputed Furr’s self-defense claim at an earlier court hearing, saying Furr fired at the five people out of anger and was never in danger.

Superior Court Judge Russell Canan adjourned the trial Thursday afternoon and said it would resume Monday morning, Oct. 22. Canan said he expected the trial to last two weeks, according to Light.

Prosecutors have not listed charges against Furr as hate crimes.

In the case involving the lesbian assault victims, the women told police at the time of the incident that the attack began after they politely spurned the men’s attempt to “flirt” with them as they walked along the 3100 block of 14th St., N.W. about 3 a.m. on July 30, 2011.

One of the men became enraged and began calling the women “dyke bitches,” the women told police, after two of them identified themselves as girl friends.

The case created a stir in the LGBT community after the women initially reported that as many as seven D.C. police officers who arrived on the scene refused to arrest the men or take a report from the women.

D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier announced a short time later that the department was investigating the officers’ conduct and that they could be subject to disciplinary action, including dismissal.

Court records show that Superior Court Judge Florence Pan ordered Christian Washington held while he awaits sentencing scheduled for Nov. 8.

The charges against both Washington brothers were listed as hate crimes.

Light said he filed a motion prior to the start of the Furr trial on behalf of the D.C. Trans Coalition asking for the judge to release questionnaires given to several dozen potential jurors during the jury selection phase of the trial.

He said his aim was to learn whether the judge, along with prosecutors and defense attorneys, were diligently screening potential jurors for bias against transgender people in a case involving three transgender victims. Light said he was pleased that Judge Canan approved his motion and arranged for the completed juror questionnaires to be given to him following of the jury selection.

“One question was, are you biased toward the transgender community,” Light told the Blade. “Several said yes.”

“The judge said he could not imagine how anyone answering ‘yes’ to being bias against transgender people could get on the jury,” Light said.

Light said he also was pleased that Judge Canan showed sensitivity to transgender people when he instructed one of the defense attorneys to address one of the transgender women in the case with a female rather than a male pronoun.

The judge spoke out on the issue before the jury entered the courtroom when the defense attorney referred to complaining witness and gunshot wound victim Chloe Moore, whose legal name is Alexander Moore, Light said. According to Light, the defense attorney referred to Moore as “Mr. Moore” until Judge Canan instructed him to refer to Moore as “Ms. Moore.”

A police spokesperson said Furr has been suspended indefinitely without pay since shortly after his arrest.

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District of Columbia

25K people attend People’s March in D.C.

President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration is on Monday

Published

1 day ago

on

January 18, 2025

By

The People's March was held downtown Washington on Jan. 18, 2025. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Upwards of 25,000 people attended the People’s March that took place in D.C. on Saturday.

Participants — who protested against President-elect Donald Trump’s proposals they say would target transgender people, immigrants, women, and other groups — gathered at McPherson and Farragut Squares and Franklin Park before they joined the march that ended at the Lincoln Memorial.

The Gender Liberation Movement is among the groups that sponsored the march. Dozens of other People’s Marches took place in cities across the country on Saturday.

Trump’s inauguration will take place in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on Monday.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key and Michael K. Lavers)

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Virginia

Arlington man arrested for arson at Freddie’s Beach Bar

Suspect charged with setting fires at two other nearby restaurants

Published

2 days ago

on

January 17, 2025

By

Timothy Clark Pollock (Photo courtesy of the Arlington County Fire Department)

The Arlington County Fire Department announced on Jan. 16 that an Arlington man has been arrested on three counts of arson for at least three fires set at restaurants on the same block on South 23rd Street, including Freddie’s Beach Bar and Restaurant, which is a gay establishment.

A statement released by the fire department says a warrant for the arrest of Timothy Clark Pollock was issued on Jan. 15 and that Clark was apprehended by Alexandria police on Jan. 16 at approximately 6:54 a.m. It says he was transferred into the custody of fire marshals and the Arlington Police Department.

Fire department officials have said the fires that Pollock allegedly set took place between 5 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 9, on the 500 block of South 23rd Street in the Crystal City section of Arlington.

Freddie Lutz, owner of Freddie’s, said the front door of his establishment was set on fire with what appeared to be a flammable liquid such as lighter fluid. The door was partially blackened by the fire, but the restaurant itself did not catch fire, Lutz said.

Fire department officials said the other two nearby establishments hit by small fires around that same time were the Crystal City Sports Pub and McNamara’s Pub and Restaurant.

Lutz told the Washington Blade that the fire at Freddie’s took place the day before and the day after Freddie’s received a threatening phone call from what sounded like the same unidentified male caller.

“He said I’m going to fuck you up and I’m going to fuck the women up,” Lutz said the person told Freddie’s manager, who answered the two calls.

Lutz speculated that the caller could have been the same person who started the fire at Freddie’s and possibly the other two restaurants.

The short statement by the Arlington County Fire Department announcing the arrest did not say whether fire and police investigators have determined a possible motive for the fires. The statement says Pollock was being held without bond and that he is “also facing additional charges for unrelated crimes, which remain under investigation.”

The online Arlington news publication ARLNow reports that a Facebook account associated with Timothy C. Pollock includes a photo from inside Freddie’s posted on Facebook on Dec. 21.

Lutz confirmed for the Blade the photo is clearly one that was taken inside Freddie’s showing Christmas decorations, leading Lutz to believe that Pollock has been inside Freddie’s at least once if not more than once.

Photos of Timothy C. Pollock on that person’s Facebook page appear to be the same Pollock as that captured in the mug shot photo of Pollock released by the Arlington County Fire Department on Jan. 16.

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Delaware

Delaware governor issues executive order creating LGBTQ+ Commission

Body to ‘strengthen ties’ between government and community

Published

2 days ago

on

January 17, 2025

By

Delaware Gov. Bethany Hall-Long, center, on Jan. 16, 2025, signed an executive order that created the state's first LGBTQ+ Commission. (Photo courtesy of Sussex Pride)

Delaware Gov. Bethany Hall-Long on Jan. 16 signed and issued an executive order creating a Delaware State LGBTQ+ Commission that she said will hold public forums for the exchange of ideas on the needs of the state’s diverse LGBTQ community.

“The nine-member commission will serve to strengthen ties between the government and LGBTQ+ organizations,” a statement released by the governor’s office says.

The statement adds that the new commission will “help remove barriers to societal participation for LGBTQ+ people and improve the delivery of services to the community in Delaware to areas such as employment, equality, education, and mental health.”

It says that members of the commission will be appointed by the governor and serve without monetary compensation for a three-year term.

According to the statement, the commission members “will represent different facets of the LGBTQ+ community, taking into account age, race, gender, identity, background, life experiences and other factors, and reflect the geographic diversity of the state.”

Hall-Long’s executive order creating the new commission came at a time when she is serving in effect as interim governor for a period of just two weeks. As lieutenant governor, she became governor on Jan. 7 when outgoing Gov. John Carney resigned to take office in his newly elected position of mayor of Wilmington.

Carney, who served two terms as governor, could not run again for that position under Delaware’s term limit law. Democrat Matt Myer won the governor’s election in November and will be sworn in as Delaware’s next governor on Jan. 21, when Hall-Long will step down.

Myer was expected to appoint the commission members in the weeks following his assumption of gubernatorial duties.

“Ultimately, the commission will advise the governor, members of the governor’s Cabinet, members of the General Assembly, and other policymakers on the effect of agency policies, procedures, practices, laws, and administrative rules on the unique challenges and needs of LGBTQ+ people,”  the statement released by Hall-Long’s office says.

“It is truly an honor to bring this commission to fruition, and I am very excited to see the positive changes the commission will make in the lives of our LGBTQ+ neighbors,” Hall-Long said in the statement.

David Mariner, executive director of Sussex Pride, an LGBTQ advocacy group based in Delaware’s Sussex County, which includes Rehoboth Beach, praised the new executive order as an important step in advancing LGBTQ equality.

“It is my hope that through this commission, we can address the critical issues facing LGBTQ Delawareans,” Mariner said in his own statement.

“This includes developing an LGBTQ health report with a tangible roadmap to health equity, increasing collaboration and communication on hate crimes and hate-related activities, and ensuring that nondiscrimination protections, guaranteed by law, are a reality for all of our residents,” he said.

The statement announcing the LGBTQ+ Commission and the full text of the executive order can be accessed here. 

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