Teen whose skirt was set ablaze begins surgery

[Jesus Malverde]

An Oakland high schooler and gender-identity activist whose skirt was set ablaze on an AC Transit bus was scheduled to begin a series of surgeries Wednesday as Alameda County prosecutors weighed potential charges against a 16-year-old boy arrested on suspicion of assault.

Luke Fleischman, 18 - who goes by the name Sasha - suffered second- and third-degree burns in Monday's fire and will probably be hospitalized for two to three weeks, said Trevor Calle, the admissions director at Maybeck High School in Berkeley, where Fleischman is a senior.

"Sasha is getting good care, and has a good prognosis for recovery," Calle wrote in an e-mail to the school's parents and staff.

Fleischman, whose legs were burned, was attacked while asleep on a bus near the teenager's home in Oakland's Glenview neighborhood. Police identified the suspect through witnesses and surveillance video, said Officer Johnna Watson, an Oakland police spokeswoman.

Authorities have not discussed possible motives, but Fleischman's friends and neighbors fear the teenager may have been targeted for wearing a skirt.

http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Teen-whose-skirt-was-set-ablaze-begins-surgery-4961732.php

[Initech]

1. WTF is wrong with some people??

[Jesus Malverde]

2. Sasha Fleischman: Boy Accused of Setting Skirt-Wearing Teen on Fire Charged With Hate Crime

A day after supporters raised $20,000 to fund surgeries for Sasha Fleischman, the high school senior who was set on fire while sleeping aboard an AC Transit bus, prosecutors have decided to charge the suspect with a hate crime.
Richard Thomas, an Oakland High School student, allegedly boarded the number 57 bus at around 5:20 p.m. Monday when he saw Fleischman asleep in the back, and set fire to Fleischman's skirt. He initially fled the scene but was apprehended Tuesday after police reviewed surveillance video from the bus, according to police. According to a court complaint, Thomas told officers that he started the fire because he is homophobic.

Fleischman, who attends Maybeck High School in Berkeley, identifies as agender, meaning he doesn't see himself as male or female -- and prefers the pronoun "they." (Since his mother, Debbie Fleischman, describes him in male pronouns, SF Weekly and other media outlets have chosen to do the same.) He frequently wears skirts as a political statement, and has established himself as a public advocate for the nonbinary gender community. In March, he helped circulate a petition encouraging President Obama to include the nonbinary category in legal documents.

Thomas faces two felony charges of assault and aggravated mayhem, each with a hate crime enhancement. That could result in life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. He was arrested at Oakland High School on Tuesday and arraigned at 2 p.m. this afternoon.

http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2013/11/sasha_fleischman_hate_crime.php