Local
AU student expelled over arrest in attack on gay Asian man, parents
Patrick Trebat no longer affiliated with university
An American University graduate student who was arrested by D.C. police on Aug. 7 on charges that he assaulted a gay Asian man and the man’s parents while shouting homophobic and anti-Asian slurs “is no longer affiliated with the university and will not be allowed on campus,” according to a report by WTOP News.
In an Oct. 9 broadcast that it updated this week, WTOP said Patrick Trebat, 38, who had been taking a night class at the university’s Kogod School of Business, was banned from returning to the campus.
Charging documents filed in D.C. Superior Court show that Trebat was charged by D.C. police with one count of felony assault, two counts of simple assault and one count of destruction of property for allegedly assaulting and injuring Sean Lai, 30, an out gay man of Chinese ancestry, and his parents on the 3700 block of Fulton Street, N.W., on Aug. 7.
The charging documents say Trebat allegedly began to follow Lai and his parents as they were walking along the street in the city’s Observatory Circle neighborhood near the National Cathedral. According to a statement by a police official from the police district whose officers made the arrest, Trebat punched and kicked the three victims as he stated, “Get out of my country.” The police statement says the family was taken to a hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.
A separate police report says Trebat shouted the word “faggots” at the family and shouted, “You are not Americans!”
Based on these allegations, prosecutors classified the assault charges as an anti-Asian bias related crime, but they did not add an anti-gay classification to the charges.
Court records show that Trebat was released two days after his arrest while awaiting trial under the court’s High Intensity Supervision Program, which, among other things, imposed a curfew requiring him to return home by 10 p.m.
An Oct. 8 story in The Eagle, the American University student newspaper, says it learned that Trebat’s attorney filed a motion in court, which the Washington Blade also discovered from court records, asking a judge to extend the curfew deadline from 10 p.m. to 11:45 p.m. so that Trebat could attend at night class at American University.
The motion, which prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office did not oppose and the judge approved, identified Trebat in the public court records as an AU graduate student.
According to the Eagle, representatives of the university’s Asian American and LGBTQ student groups criticized university officials for not alerting students that an AU student charged with an anti-Asian hate crime while hurling homophobic slurs had access to the campus and could pose a danger to students.
“Patrick Trebant is not affiliated with American University and is not allowed on campus,” AU told the Blade on Wednesday in a statement. “While we cannot discuss details of an individual matter, when a student has been arrested, charged, convicted of, or sentenced for a felony crime, the university’s student conduct code provides for an administrative adjudication process. The safety of our students and our community is our priority.”
The Eagle reports that the code of conduct states that the dean of students or their designee can administratively adjudicate a case when a student has been accused of a non-academic offense “where the student has been arrested, charged, convicted of, or sentenced for a felony crime” for certain misconduct. The code of conduct applies in a situation in which a student is arrested for an off-campus allegation.
Court records show Trebat is scheduled to return to court at 9:30 a.m. on Nov. 15 for a felony status hearing before Superior Court Judge Judith Pipe.
Neither Trebat nor his attorney, Brandi Harden, could immediately be reached for comment.
District of Columbia
Hands Off the Arts to form ‘human chain’ around Kennedy Center
Drag performer Tara Hoot among event organizers
An organization called Hands Off the Arts has announced it is holding a protest on Friday, Sept. 18, in which between 400 and 800 participants are expected to create a “human chain” around the Kennedy Center to voice their strong objection to President Donald Trump’s call for possibly demolishing the Kennedy Center.
“Hands Off the Arts is organizing a rally Sept. 18 against the president’s defacing of JFK’s memorial, his removal and censorship of art, and the threat to demolish the center if he can’t remake the site in his image,” a statement released by the group says.
The statement says the event will start with a rally at 6:30 p.m. on the Kennedy Center steps and culminate with a “human chain” around the building. “There will be musical performances, testimonials from current and former employees, along with other special guest speakers,” it says
A separate announcement by the group says longtime D.C. drag performer Tara Hoot, who has performed at the Kennedy Center in past years, was among the organizers of the Sept. 18 protest.
The planned protest follows Trump’s decision last year to use his authority to replace the existing members of the Kennedy Center’s board of directors with new members loyal to him. Over the objection of longtime Kennedy Center supporters, the Trump-appointed board changed the name of the center, at Trump’s request, from the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts to the Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
But following the threat of legal action by opponents who pointed out that the name change could not be legally made unless approved by Congress, the name change was cancelled, with Trump saying he would take steps to restore it later.
The Washington Post, meanwhile, reports in a Sept. 13 news story that because of negative publicity related to Trump’s actions, the Kennedy Center was facing “fiscal collapse” and possible bankruptcy and could be forced to shut down as early as this week.
According to the Post report, a 57-page document presented to the Kennedy Center’s board of trustees says the center was facing a financial and structural building crisis, with the recent collapse of part of the building’s inside ceiling, indicating the building was unsafe for employees and the public. Among other things, the document says the Kennedy Center may not be able to make payroll or pay for routine maintenance “within a matter of weeks,” the Post reports.
Some LGBTQ advocates were among those who joined others in boycotting the Kennedy Center to express their objections to Trump’s actions, including a statement by Trump that he objected to the Kennedy Center’s practice of hosting drag performances.
The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington has been among the LGBTQ performing arts groups and artists that have performed at the Kennedy Center.
“With the future still very much uncertain, now more than ever, the Center needs you to stand up for freedom of expression and against authoritarian overreach into arts and culture institutions,” the Hands Off the Arts group says in its announcement of the Hands Around the Kennedy Center protest.
“You have the opportunity to make a difference — show up with Hands Off the Arts and show your power as part of Hands Around the Kennedy Center,” it says.
A spokesperson for the Kennedy Center couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
Baltimore
Transgender woman killed in Barclay community mourned by friends, advocates
Sophie Lee shot to death on Friday morning
By DARREONNA DAVIS | Denise Johnson imagined spending Sunday with her daughter, Sophie Lee, eating crabs at the park. Instead, she stood on a Barclay street corner Sunday evening surrounded by nearly 100 people who came to remember her daughter, a transgender woman who was fatally shot there Friday.
The 27-year-old woman was found in the 2400 block of North Calvert Street around 1:15 a.m. Friday, Baltimore Police said in a news release.
Lindsey Eldridge, a police department spokesperson, said it’s unclear if her identity had anything to do with her death and the investigation is ongoing.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at [email protected].
The Comings & Goings column also invites LGBTQ+ college students to share their successes with us. If you have been elected to a student government position, landed an exciting internship, or are graduating and beginning your career with a new job, let us know so we can share your success.
Congratulations to Jaime Christopher Pierce on their appointment to serve as a member of the Virginia Governor’s LGBTQ+ Advisory Board. Pierce was sworn in on Sept. 3 by Greg Parks, clerk of the Alexandria Circuit Court.
Pierce currently serves as vice chair of the Alexandria City LGBTQIA+ Task Force and as a member of the Alexandria Pride planning committee. They previously served on the board of directors of Equality Virginia.
Upon being sworn in, Pierce said, “Public service has been a central part of my life for more than 30 years, and this appointment gives me an opportunity to serve the Commonwealth in a different and very personal way. My career has allowed me to work with people and communities throughout Virginia, and I hope to bring that experience, along with my own lived experience and my involvement in the LGBTQ+ community, to the work of the Board.” They added, “Having Greg administer the oath makes the occasion even more meaningful because of his own historic role as Virginia’s first openly gay elected circuit court clerk.”
Pierce also serves as Circuit Court Services Manager for the Department of Judicial Services, at the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia. They began their career in Virginia’s judiciary in 1994 as a deputy clerk with the Virginia Beach Circuit Court and have since held several professional and leadership positions within the court system. Pierce is a member of the National Association for Court Management (NACM) and the Mid-Atlantic Association for Court Management. At the national level, Pierce participated in the workgroup that developed the National Association for Court Management’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Guide, a resource designed to help court professionals advance inclusive practices and strengthen access, fairness and belonging within the justice system.
Pierce earned a degree in Criminal Justice from Liberty University, and a certificate in Paralegal Studies from Norfolk State University.
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Comings & Goings
