'You do know that's not a woman. That's a transvestite - MacDonalds manager?

[RamboLiberal]

From older woman with purse who tried to intervene to save the victim.

"I think it's terrible. I think it's inhumane," said 55-year-old Vicki Thoms, who tried to break up the assault. "When they started really hurting her, to the point where I thought she was going to die, that's when I decided someone needed to do something."

"I kept screaming, 'Stop. Get off of her.' And they wouldn't stop. One of the girls said to me, 'It's none of your (expletive) business,' and hit me in the face," Thoms told 11 News.

"The one employee there -- I think it was the manager -- said to me, 'You do know that's not a woman. That's a transvestite.' And I said, 'So? She's human,'" Thoms said.

http://www.wbaltv.com/r/27665011/detail.html


WBALTV.com Vicky Thoms, 55, says she was pushed and punched while trying to help Chrissy Lee Polis as she was attacked by two teenagers in Baltimore.

The woman who stepped up to defend a transgender woman being brutally attacked by two teenagers at a Maryland McDonald's says she's "not a hero."

Vicky Thoms said she was pushed and punched in the face by one of the attackers when she tried to save Chrissy Lee Polis from being savagely beaten on April 18. The incident was captured on video and posted online.

"I couldn't take it anymore," Thoms told the Baltimore Sun Monday at a rally outside the McDonald's in Rosedale, a suburb of Baltimore. "I thought, 'They're going to kill her.'"

The 55-year-old was hesitant to get involved when the attack began. But after a few minutes, she felt compelled to intervene.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/04/26/2011-04-26_thoms_im_no_hero_for_helping_transgender_woman_during_mcdonalds_assault.html#ixzz1KeFdLkwJ

If true that employee needs to be fired as well! And kudos to Vicki Thoms!!!!!

[Maine-ah]

1. every last employee in that place needs to be fired.

[xchrom]

3. +1

[pacalo]

14. Alternet has a petition asking for McD's to fire all the employees...

http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/570758/transgender_woman_beaten_in_mcdonald's_as_employee_videotapes_attack/

[anneboleyn]

96. Thank you for posting this link. It disgusts me that nothing has been done!

[Turbineguy]

65. Maybe it would be better

if they all learned something from this.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

110. I'm about to get in trouble at DU.

Right. It's easy to sit in front of a computer and say what other people should have done. Sometimes, though, intervening comes with a price:

Dad who split up fight in McDonald's shot dead

A DAD-of-four who split up a fight in a McDonald’s was shot dead moments after being told he wouldn’t see the morning.

Raymond Mitchell, 34, had only popped into the restaurant to buy a hot chocolate.

But he apparently caused offence after splitting up two men fighting in the queue.

One of them, who had several gold teeth, shouted at Raymond: “You are gonna die tonight, you are not gonna see the morning.”

I don't work at McDonald's. It might be the case, especially if this McDonald's is in a high crime area, that employees are told that, in case of some incident, call 9-1-1 and let the police take care of things. Employees at 7-Eleven are reminded not to be a hero. Hand over the money and let the thief escape. Then call the police.

My flame suit is on, so fire away.

[Hugabear]

75. Maybe the store could be condemned and torn down

Not as if depriving the neighborhood of a McDonald's would be a terrible thing.

[HighLowRoller87]

87. You would think that's a good idea but we got the likes of Palin around Baltimore....

Hands off my freedom fries!!!

Disgusting.

[FLAprogressive]

90. This.

[HighLowRoller87]

92. It's not much but the Manager, the one who recorded this was fired.

Just think if he didn't tape it and it didn't go viral. A good thing and bad thing at the same time.

[WatsonT]

115. The ones who giggled and filmed it sure

but the rest? I'm not so sure.

Standing by and doing nothing while not heroic isn't exactly evil.

And likely they were told not to intervene in such scenarios or else they'd lose their job.

A lot of them probably didn't have any idea what to do.

[Deep13]

120. That would be a good start. nt

[DirkGently]

2. Insanity.

[lumberjack_jeff]

4. "you do know that's not a woman."

If the victim were a F->M transsexual would the manager have advised Viki against intervening by saying "You do know that's not a man"?

No one intervened because, to the people present, he was a man disguising himself as a woman, and girls beating up boys is funny.

[Pithlet]

6. Right. I'm sure it had nothing to do with transphobia.

Sure.

[lumberjack_jeff]

9. Would bystanders have intervened had Polis presented as a man?

Would we care?

"In other news, Teonna Brown was arrested for assaulting Carl Polis at a local McDonalds. Witnesses reported that a dispute broke out over his use of the women's bathroom. Polis is being treated at a local hospital. Police have decided not to charge him for indecent exposure in the women's room."

The reason the choice of pronoun is so important is because our underlying social stereotypes require that using "she" and "her" is necessary to accept that Polis is a victim.

I doubt that Brown would have beaten a woman presenting as a man.

[Aerows]

19. Oh jeez

Spare us all the "woe are poor men" angle. Normal people would be pissed at seeing someone taking a beat down like that no matter their gender.

Polis, no matter the pronouns used, was beaten into a seizure. Epilepsy kills people, you know, and blows to the head cause seizures.

In your way of thinking, is it okay for anyone to beat up a person with disabilities, no matter the gender? How about an elderly person?

It's not acceptable to beat people for over 3 minutes regardless of the situation. Polis didn't even fight back, yet these women kept coming back in the place to beat on her. That's sick behavior, period. Beating on a being that is down and not fighting back is savagery, no matter how you slice it, and it is irrelevant what gender they are, what race they are and if they are a human or not.

Would you advocate two people beating on an animal that was sitting there not fighting back for three minutes?

[blondeatlast]

21. Spot on and thank you. Any decent person would have intervened; sadly, only one decent person

appeared to be on the scene.

[Arkansas Granny]

25. Exactly right.

[lumberjack_jeff]

31. You appear to be talking to someone else.

The beating that Brown inflicted on Polis was wrong regardless of the gender presented.

What the McDonalds manager said was; "You know that's not a woman. That's a transvestite." The first sentence is every bit as relevant as the second.

You are trying to create a strawman and failing badly.

[druidity33]

40. By saying that, the Manager

was trying to excuse the violence. That's inhuman. Did he call the cops immediately or let the beat down continue?

[lumberjack_jeff]

43. Exactly right. n/t

[tavalon]

73. By saying that, he bacame an immediate accessory to a hate crime,

and in a good world, he would be arrested along with the actual assaultors.

[DissedByBush]

108. It was likely a hate crime -- over race

Sadly I hear it is somewhat of a sport for pairs or groups of black girls to beat up lone white girls.

It usually starts with "You looking at me?" or "You looking at my man?" or "You say something to me?" or in this case her "man."

I doubt they even knew her gender status when they decided to attack.

[SharksBreath]

114. Really. I heard Obama's Birth certificate couldn't be located.

See how that works.

[WatsonT]

116. Also setting himself up to be fired I would think

[nashville_brook]

51. precisely.

[Carni]

59. Woman-man-transgendered whatever the case was...

I would have intervened just like this 57 year old woman did --no way would I stand back and watch someone get brutalized by those two idiots.

If everyone in that Mickey D's would have taken even a MILD interest in the situation... those two assholes could have been pulled off of the person and then shoved out of the door (with an added kick in their asses)

Every moron at that McDonald's should be fired esp the SOB who videotaped the thing and laughed.

[catrose]

82. Couldn't anyone even call 911? eom

[tblue37]

24. The reason the assault began had nothing to do with using the restroom.

One girl came after the victim for "talking to 'her man.'"

nonsense about using the restroom is just a way for th media to deflect attention and suggest that the victim was somehow at fault, or that there was some reason for the girls to be so furious and to attack so violently.

[anneboleyn]

97. Exactly. It's a b.s. red herring. The girl can be heard on the video saying it was about her "man"

not the restroom.

[antigone382]

28. Well, the Brandon Teena story is pretty infamous.

And that was the murder of an FTM.

[lumberjack_jeff]

32. Yet the murder of Philip DeVine is not. n/t

[Cerridwen]

42. Nor the murder of Lisa Lambert; also murdered with Teena

Brandon. What's your point? Two others were killed along with Teena Brandon and their murders were not given the infamy of her murder. Where's Lisa in your concern? Maybe you'd like to mention the baby or Lisa's mother who found the murder victims? Or maybe you'd like to mention the fact that the scum who murdered all 3 had raped and brutalized Teena and been allowed to walk free?

http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/not_guilty/brandon/1.html

[1monster]

38. "Police have decided not to charge him for indecent exposure in the women's room."

That would be a hard charge for prosecutors to prove, unless it is alleged that she exposed genitals outside the toilet stall. Ladies' rooms are not equiped with urinals . All toilets are inside stalls with locking doors.

Wise choice on the part of the police. :eyes:

[JI7]

44. They beat this older woman who was trying to defend that girl they were beating

so, yes, they would have beat her no matter what.

[lumberjack_jeff]

49. Yes. The perpetrators are subhuman punks.

But that wasn't the question I asked. If they had attacked this older lady first, would the employees have stood around videotaping and advising the other bystanders to not get involved?

[JI7]

54. they didn't do much when they did attack the older woman

so , i would say yes, they probably would have behaved teh same.

[Carni]

61. Judging by the assholishness displayed by them...

I'll bet they would have!

I didn't see ANY decency in that crowd what-so-ever! When the 57 year old was getting punched did the other people DO ANYTHING to intervene? No, they did not.

[anneboleyn]

98. The whole thing was just disgusting and alarming. Nobody did anything to help.

Not even lift a pinky to call 911 on the cell phone. But a creep did manage to post it to youtube.

[Carni]

62. I agree

They were just assholes looking to pummel whoever.

[readmoreoften]

53. As someone partnered to an FtM, the answer is a resounding yes.

So are you saying that women don't assault FtMs or transgendered butch dykes? Um. No.

[lumberjack_jeff]

57. Disambiguation

Your answer to my question "would bystanders have intervened if the victim presented male" is "a resounding yes".

So if the women had been beating up a young man "for using the women's restroom" (according to some accounts), bystanders would be more likely to intervene to stop the attacker?

And no, I'm not saying any of the things you suggest.

[DeadEyeDyck]

88. to be honest, if what appeared to be an obvious man

sat a young healthy dude with a beard, was being beat by two girls, most men would have laughed. I am sorry, but guys just don't take a beaten from women!! I know I am politcally incorrect. I always am.

But remember, when you attack me, you are attacking a German born bi-racial American!!! Racist!!! Racist!!!Racist!!!

Ain't it the shit? as they say here in Georgia.

[donheld]

84. disgraceful

[Name removed]

91. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[William769]

5. I'm glad I have a concealed weapons permit.

Thank you Vicky Thoms for doing the right thing.

[Atypical Liberal]

64. But many people would prefer for others to endure beat-downs.

This attack is precisely the sort of thing that anti-firearm people would prefer all victims of violence have to endure. No means to resist except to engage in a physical contest of strength with your attackers.

It's crazy. As progressives we are supposed to support the weak in their struggles against the strong. But many would rather the weak always be at the mercy of their attackers, as this woman was.

[druidity33]

101. That's BS...

I would prefer people be able to defend their bodily person from physical harm. Had i been there, i would have stepped in but i wouldn't have used a firearm. Those girls may think they know how to fight, but they don't. One 2 fingered thrust to the front of the neck, one kick to the side of the knee. Done.

:shrug:

[Atypical Liberal]

113. Physical contest of strength.

I would prefer people be able to defend their bodily person from physical harm. Had i been there, i would have stepped in but i wouldn't have used a firearm. Those girls may think they know how to fight, but they don't. One 2 fingered thrust to the front of the neck, one kick to the side of the knee. Done.

That's great, but not everyone can be a skilled martial artist. Obviously the victim here was not. Without tools like firearms to equalize the situation, any confrontation with violent aggressors is going to result in a physical contest of strength against them. This means the weak will always be at the mercy of the strong.

You can run if you are fast enough, submit if you can survive what is being dished out, or engage in a physical contest of strength against your attacker(s).

The victim in this assault is a clear example that shows that many people can't do any of these things.

Without firearms, every single violent assault comes down to a physical contest of strength. The weak will be at the mercy of the strong.

[WatsonT]

117. Good thing everyone is physically strong and knows martial arts

Next time some old lady gets beaten down be sure to show up at her hospital and berate her for not using the flying mantis technique.

[SemperEadem]

106. I think grabbing a couple of brooms to beat the attackers back off of the woman they wer beating

would have done the job better than someone shooting into a pile of people fighting.

[Atypical Liberal]

112. If you want to engage in a contest of physical strength with a broom...

Hey, this was the only option for most of recorded human history. You could, like a caveman, pick up a stick, and attempt to engage in a physical contest of strength with the attacker. If you're strong enough.

[SemperEadem]

128. false equivalence

a grown adult wailing on a teenage girl with a broomstick would take her down. It doesn't involve being "strong enough"--it involves swinging a stick. Duh.

[Atypical Liberal]

131. Still a physical contest of strength.

a grown adult wailing on a teenage girl with a broomstick would take her down. It doesn't involve being "strong enough"--it involves swinging a stick. Duh.

It's still a physical contest of strength between you and your opponent.

[BoWanZi]

7. Good for Vicki! I admire her guts and courage!

[vim876]

8. Thanks.

Thanks for reminding us that the world has people like Vicky Thomas in it.

[leftstreet]

10. 55 is not old

:-)

[Rosa Luxemburg]

15. LOL!

[RamboLiberal]

17. I said older not old

Cause many here saw the video. Just to identify her to those who did.

[blackbart99]

11. Get out the check book again McDonalds...

This ought to be a big claim.

I love the woman's response....She's human....That made me feel good.
:hippie: :pals: :yourock: You Rock lady!!!

[upi402]

12. Fire the employees

and where were police... Alaska?

Vicky Thoms:applause:

[Thunderstruck]

13. Thank you, Vicky. That was a brave thing you did.

[themadstork]

16. And I said, 'So? She's human,'

Very nice to hear her say this. To be prejudiced enough that you no longer have sympathy for someone who's taking a beating is one fuxked up place to be. We need more Vicki Thoms in the world.

[ZombieHorde]

23. I agree. nt

[patrice]

123. I wonder if there isn't some self-hate in that prejudice.

A seed of compassion for that which one has spent a lifetime denying. Just thinking of all that so many have sacrificed, from day 1, to the differences between _______________ and ________________. Sacrifices that form a black-hole of missing stuff that becomes particularly bitter and hard, hard, hard when events happen to involve some of our deepest most strongly wired characteristics, such as sex.

How else is it possible to turn a person into an object? How else is it possible to hate someone, rather than to just be neutral toward them, except that s/he touches on something in yourself that you fear, something like "All of those sacrifices, everything you gave up, all of the different kinds of things (not all of them necessarily sexual), all of any kind of a different sort of life, anything that might have been but wasn't . . . ALL of that was for nothing." Is it possible that those losses create a seed of self-hate that blooms in prejudice and an omnipresent unending potential for violence that helps us manage our fear of recognizing the truths about who we think we are?

[MineralMan]

18. Good for her for stepping up and risking her own

safety to protect another person. We should all take her as an example of how we should behave in a similar situation.

[blondeatlast]

20. any human being SHOULD have done what she did, but humans are the ones who beat the woman up,

Vicky, you ARE a hero--and thank you from Arizona.

[themadstork]

29. probably, but let's not forget how scary/stunning violence can be

The first time I saw two people attacking each other I was so stunned I didn't even think of intervening. Of course, it was a cafeteria fistfight that lasted 30sec before school admin arrived.

It's jarring to be sitting there eating lunch and then out of nowhere people are beating another senseless. Most people never really react. Kudos to Thoms for marshaling the requisite courage.

[8 track mind]

41. Bingo!

It takes a while for your brain to fully register whats going on in a situation like this. As a victim of bullying myself, my only wish is that i could have been there. I would have gladly defended this person even if it meant getting stabbed, arrested, whatever

I know what it's like, i've been there

[Pacifist Patriot]

58. Absolutely!

[tavalon]

74. Yeah, that's what a lot of people are missing here

The reason people practice a potential situation (like CPR for cardiac arrest) is partially so they don't freeze in the moment. Now that all of us here have thought about this situation, it's likely that we will all jump into the fray rather than having the stun reaction.

[catrose]

83. I saw a guy start to hit a woman

on the opposite side of the running track from me. My jaw dropped open. Then I started running towards them. He took off. I called the cops, but by the time they arrived, he was nowhere to be found. I always remind myself that he ran away from my 5'5" 120 pound female self. That tactic doesn't sound like it would have worked here, though. The beaters had too much support.

[JNelson6563]

127. Good for you!

Your story made me laugh, the "5'5" 120 pound female" part especially. That describes me as well. About a year or so ago my brother came to my house and when he arrived he was pretty worked up. Told me to call the cops as there was a guy slapping a lady around just up the street from my house. I said forget the cops. We jumped into my car and went to where he saw it. Sure enough, still going on. I pulled over (I was on the other side of the street from them) and I yelled "Hey!" Things stopped. I said "Do you need help?" and the lady says "Yes, as a matter of fact I do" and she walks over and jumps in the back seat of my car. We beat it out of there and drove around a bit. She was crying, couldn't seem to stop, understandably. The whole time my brother's telling me to take her to the police station to file a report. She said nothing, just cried, so I didn't know where she stood on that idea. I told him to be quiet and asked her what she wanted me to do. She just cried. I felt horrible for her. We drove back toward the "scene of the crime" and there were all these cops there. Seemed about 6 people had called on their cells. They had the guy in the back of one of the cars, handcuffed so I knew she was safe at least. She chose to get out and talk to them and file a report so we parted ways there as the officer I spoke with promised they would drive her where-ever she needed to go.

My brother hadn't wanted to stop because he said that's a good way to get blown away or something. I guess all the people that didn't stop but called the cops felt that way. I chose to do it safely from my car, while it was running, on the other side of street and wondered why it hadn't occurred to anyone else to do the same. Still I am pretty small, like you and felt compelled to help anyway. Sometimes the biggest hero of the moment rests within the smallest person in the room. :-)

I have no idea who that poor lady was. I hope things worked out. She did manage to tell me that she had a safe place to stay, with family, so I was glad of that.

Julie--who wishes she could save everyone who suffers abuse

[WatsonT]

118. People are pretty well trained "not to get involved"

We expect violence on TV or in other places, but not in McDonalds as we're eating.

[Aerows]

22. This is what a decent human being does

Thank heavens there are people like her that will not stand by while acts of cruelty are taking place.

Anyone that thinks this wasn't an act of cruelty needs to think about how they would feel if they saw two people beating on a defenseless animal for three minutes - and they KEPT repeatedly coming back to deliver additional beatings. That's premeditated.

Note that I'm not in any way equating this poor woman with an animal, I'm just trying to point out that it isn't acceptable to do this PERIOD.

[RevStPatrick]

26. I was wondering about that woman in the video.

I hadn't really seen any mention of her.
Right on, Vicki Thomas!!!

[Aerows]

27. If more of people had her courage and kindness

the world would be a better place. She risked her own personal safety to help a person in need. That's the right stuff!

[RamboLiberal]

30. I've read Chrissy Lee Polis wants to meet her in person

to thank her.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

36. Me Too!

She IS a hero, and so much NOT the typical type that the damn media loves.

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

33. It Takes a Lot of Guts to Intervene in a Situation Like That

Its a scary proposition. I came across a guy beating the crap out of his girlfriend in an alley in Philadelphia about 20 years ago and I had two other guys with me. I'm a big strong person but this guy was going wild and we had a tough time pulling him away and restraining him. It took real courage for that woman to even try to stop that beating. Messed up people who don't think twice about using violence on that victim wouldn't have thought twice about pummeling Vicky Thoms either.

[DeadEyeDyck]

95. I guess we are of a different cut of cloth

I was leaving the Congress Center in Atlanta with a friend. While walking to the parking lot, a man accosted my friend, asking for money. He gave him a few dollars. When we got to the my car, he threw my friend to the ground and open the passenger door and jumped inside and said that I should give him some money too. He was hugh with a bith toothy grin. He was very confident like he had done this many times before. My friend stood in the background, a little stunned and coward. This jerk settled in the seat of my car like he was my bride!!

I reached inside the console like I was looking for my wallet and pulled out a Taurus 740 and pressed it against his cheek and asked him exactly how much money he thought I owed him? His grin dissappeared and he opened the door and exited without comment.

Look, this scum has probably been pulling this crap on people for years but I bet I screwed his game. The fact that I am black with a hard German really shocked him.

Stand up. Fight back.

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

109. Its been over 20 years....

and its not just a memory. I still can feel the emotion of the situation. This guy was already going wild and my friends and I were just walking to the convenience store. Grabbing the guy was almost like reaching into a spinning fan. My wife said she was happy that I did it but also that I must have been stupid because he could have had a knife or a gun.

Looking at that video, Vicky Thoms was just there for some crappy food and this breaks out. You can see it is just like trying to reach into the fan or a spinning saw blade and make it stop. It was scary for me and I had a physical advantage. This woman didn't. That took some courage.

[Odin2005]

34. I don't get why people act so cruelly to trans folks. I just fucking do not get it.

:grr:

[theHandpuppet]

35. The world needs many more heroes like Vicki Thoms

Kudos for a woman of courage and humanity.

[Warren DeMontague]

37. Good for her.

She's an inspiring piece of an otherwise depressing story.

[Mimosa]

39. Teonna Brown, the lead attacker, had attacked a woman in same McD's last year

Miss Teonna Brown, age 18, had been arrested for attacking a black woman and her daughters at the SAME McDonald's last year. So she's an equal opportunity thugette!

http://www.thesmokinggun....tacker-prior-bust-908732

Excerpt:

Teonna Monae Brown, 18, was charged with two assault counts for allegedly attacking Danielle Dower, 38, last July. In October, a Baltimore County judge ruled that charges would not be further pursued against Brown, according to court records, which do not further explain that “nolle prosequi” decision.



In a handwritten police statement, Dower said that she had left the McDonald’s with her two daughters when Brown confronted her, asking “Did you call me ugly?” Though Dower said she had not, Brown “kept trying to badger us.” At one point, Dower said, the teenager “pushed me in the back.” After Dower pushed back, Brown “took her fist and threw a punch to my face.”

As the pair scuffled, Dower said, Brown hit her in the back with an umbrella and “pulled my wig off my head.”

Saying that, “I wanted to get my kids to safety,” Dower went with her children to a nearby shopping center. Brown and her friends, Dower added, followed behind.

As Dower called 911, two females grabbed her daughter by the hair and dragged the teenage girl across the floor. “I had to stop talking to the operator, get on top of my daughter and protect her while trying to fight off those girls,” Dower stated.

The fight, she added, left her with “a few cuts to my face” and “my head was hurt from the hair pulling and my leg got hurt. My oldest daughter head was hurting from the girls dragging her across the floor. She suffered cuts to her knee and one to her face, bumps to her forhead and behind her ear.”

Brown and a female cohort were identified by a cop “from prior contacts from prior incidents,” according to a Baltimore County Police Department report. The pair--and a third suspect, a juvenile--initially denied “any involvement in an assault until after they were identified by the victim.” An arrest report described Brown as a high school student at The Arrow Project of Maryland, and listed her sole tattoo as “chocolate covered cherries.”

[MrMickeysMom]

69. How violent does this girl have to get before she's arrested?

Awful... Absolutely deplorable. I wonder what this woman's upbringing taught her?

[TheMadMonk]

76. And that says it all. TG may or not be the "excuse" this time...

...but at 18 this girl is very much a serial basher and trouble maker. If an "excuse" doesn't present she'll create one.

[Catherine Vincent]

93. Wow!

This biotch has serious problems. So glad she was charged and I hope she spends time in prison.

[me b zola]

45. I heart Vicky Thoms

:loveya:

[and-justice-for-all]

46. Chrissy better press chargers and sue McDonalds...

the failure to act not acceptable and the mangers how did nothing are just as guilty. That little punk piece of shit shooting that video also needs his ass rung for character defamation (shooting the video and posting it on line). The 14 year old needs to be treated as an adult for this shit.

[RamboLiberal]

47. Community rallies around victim of McDonald’s attack

The family of a transgender woman who was attacked in a Baltimore County McDonald's last week thanked the woman who stepped in and tried to help, as more than a hundred supporters gathered at the Rosedale restaurant Monday night. The rally drew together representatives of transgender, civil-rights and faith-based communities in a call to action to stop violence against all people.

"I'll never forget you for this," Renee Polis told Vicky Thoms, who was hit in the face as she stepped between Chrissy Polis and the two teens who were caught on video punching and kicking Polis, and dragging her by her hair until Polis appears to have a seizure.

-----

Stepping into the McDonald's restaurant on April 18, the 55-year-old Thoms stumbled onto the attack — she said she saw a woman cowering on the floor outside a restroom as two other women pummeled her.

Stunned, Thoms watched for about two minutes, wondering what to do. Then, despite her fear of aggravating a back injury, Thoms said she stepped in, and was punched in the face while doing so.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post_now/post/community_rallies_around_victim_of_mcdonalds_attack/2011/04/26/AFXDYkpE_blog.html?wprss=rss_local

[RamboLiberal]

48. The assualt went on for 10 minutes according to witness Thoms

In the interview in the kitchen of her home on Monday, Thoms said she had stepped in because she feared the assault on Polis might be fatal. She also said she had no idea the victim was transgender, but added that it would not have mattered.

She said the employee who shot the video did not try to help and warned the suspects to leave because the police were on their way. Of the video, she said, "It makes me sick to watch it."

The video, she said, lasts only about three minutes, but the actual assault went on for ten. "It's terrible that a human being had to go through that," said Thoms, who expressed a wish to see Polis again and "give her a hug."


http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post_now/post/community_rallies_around_victim_of_mcdonalds_attack/2011/04/26/AFXDYkpE_blog.html?wprss=rss_local

[Ignis]

50. "I couldn't take it anymore."

I know how you feel, Vicky.

Thanks for standing up for another human being's right not to be beaten bloody by bratty teenagers.

:patriot:

[Snoutport]

52. .Does this nice lady know she just became a hero to a lot of people?

I'll fess up...this choked me up.

[stuntcat]

55. to me she IS a hero, even tho she says she's not

There's a brutal beating going on but none of the men in the restaurant would do anything, not even say "stop". But this lady stepped in at least twice trying to stop it. Thoms is the only hero in this story.

[sarcasmo]

56. Right on Vicki Thoms

[bluerum]

60. Very brave courageous woman.

Thank god the thugs were not armed.

[Cronus Protagonist]

63. Transgender is the new "gay"

Think about it.

[Cetacea]

94. +1

[relayerbob]

66. Forget firing ....

Maximum security for life for the lot

[Danger Mouse]

67. If every employee who was present is not fired, I will not ever eat at McD's again.

[TheMadMonk]

77. I guess your doctor must be smiling then. /nt

[Liberal_in_LA]

68. wow..the older lady got hit also. sad

[demigoddess]

70. MacDonald's should be required to hire a bouncer or a security guard

like at banks. After all, don't we have the right to eat in peace. A child could have been hurt, or will be in the future. Hire a guard, idiots.

[Abq_Sarah]

81. If they had locked away the lead thugette

After her altercation last year, security wouldn't be needed.

[rasputin1952]

71. "...And I said, 'So? She's human,'"

That line says it all.

The day we come to see people as people, will be the day humanity will start to thrive. I hope I live to see that day...I hope the youth of this world can do it; they are rejecting the hate.

:kick:

[tavalon]

72. She is a hero

I'm not sure the others are actually human. In other words, what the fuck is wrong with people?!!!???

[Broderick]

78. hero

[Vinnie From Indy]

79. She is a hero!

Cheers to you Vicki!

[nolabear]

80. I presume the irony of being beaten for trying to use a restroom is lost on these girls?

Someone needs to connect them with their history, and with the plight of disenfranchised people everywhere.

The video of the beating and subsequent seizure is just horrifying. I hope she's all right. And yes, Vicki Thoms is a hero.

[SemperEadem]

107. she was beaten because one of the attackers

claim she was trying to talk to her boyfriend. Not for trying to use the bathroom.

[Taverner]

85. All that is necesarry for evil is for good men (and women) to do nothing

This good woman did something

Some rare good news, in a sea of bad

[Flora]

86. What is the deal with all the "fight" videos in fast food places lately?

And would we even be discussing the latest if it were not for the transgender victim? I say, let's talk about all of them. And NO, nothing against transgender, I'm just against public violence altogether. (private violence, as well before you even go there!)

[FLAprogressive]

89. the thugs who beat this poor girl ought to be locked away for a while. I'm sure they'll get a slap

on the wrist though.

[Paradoxical]

99. A gun would have come in handy in this situation.

Shoot the first asshole and I would bet money that the other gets down on her knees and starts begging for the police.

[axollot]

100. NatGeo had a great show on last night about gender -

in nature there is a ton of hermaphroditic animals - humans are no different. The inhumane way a doctor chooses the "sex" of your child born with 2 sets of genitalia was based on one man's theory and it went horribly wrong. INDIA of all damn places now, has 3 genders on paperwork M,F,T

Transgendered/heterosexual/homosexual is as natural as a plant. They are also finding the hippocampus in the brain of Transgendered is the same as a woman!

I knew my son was not "straight" at age 3 (he says he's bi and has dated a girl for past 2yrs but I'm not convinced, he cried to me often wishing he was "normal" he wanted to get married and have kids.)

It's not a choice and the arseholes that say it is, I ask them, how is it that my son came into his sexual identity at 3 - even though we never discussed his "sexuality" until his older brother busted him on gay pron - he was 12 and had snuck on my comp in the middle of the night)

Cheers
Sandy a proud mother.

[Swagman]

102. you might not think it Vicky but you are a hero to us !!

:hi:

[Mimosa]

104. * Another shoutout to Vicki Thomas! * n//t

[madokie]

103. What a wonderful person

in total disregard for her own safety she tries to help. To me she is a true HERO

[SemperEadem]

105. the 14 yr old needs to be charged as an adult as well

she is vicious, dangerous and needs to be locked away and never see the light of day ever again. Freakin' beast.

She is getting off way too easily when she was grown enough to enter into this fukkery of her own volition. She's not stupid--she knows assault is against the law.

And her mother needs to be slapped, too, for raising such a beast and turning it loose in the streets to assault people.

This just disgusts me to no end.

[meow2u3]

111. This lady defended a person attacked by savages

She stopped a hate crime in progress; that's the bottom line. I couldn't care less if the person were a trans. She could have been a space alien and those kids would have jumped her. No one has the right to attack another human being just because of who they are and how they were born.

[SharksBreath]

121. It wasn't a hate crime. The girl tried to talk to her boyfriend.

She wasn't having it. I see this all the time on reality shows and videos on the net.

White and black women beating the hell out of a chick for flirting with their man. While they are there.

It happens all the time. The girl is lucky the boyfriend didn't beat her up for trying to flirt with him while being a man.

I've seen plenty of video of that happening also.

[justiceischeap]

126. Um... yeah, no. You have a criminal claiming that the Chrissy Lee Polis was trying to talk to

her man... in another arrest you have a criminal "claiming" another woman called her ugly. You've got eyewitness statements that claims the criminal was going on about a "dude" going into the women's bathroom and the beat down began. It seems to me the criminal thinks it's funny to claim someone said or did something against her and that this makes a good excuse for a beat down. I suspect if the eyewitness account is correct and the criminal was indeed shouting about a "dude" going into the ladies bathroom, then this is indeed a hate crime.

The guy in the video who asked Thoms if she knew the victim was not a "woman," as though that gave the criminals a valid reason for doing what they were doing, committed a hate crime by allowing this beating to take place based on gender bias.

[SemperEadem]

130. exactly

there is NO excuse for what happened and the sex of the victim has nothing to do with anything. The criminal has no right, authority or anything else to take matters into her own hands and dispense justice the way she saw fit.

If "a man" went into the women's restroom, then alert the management or call the police.
If "a man" was talking to your boyfriend, then suck it up. He's going to be talked to by lots of people and that doesn't give you the right, license or anything else to assault anyone.

Those criminals made up their justifications; one of them has a history of thinking she's hearing things and then going out and assaulting random people based on what she thinks she heard.

They're both effin' beasts and should be treated as such.

[SemperEadem]

129. she "claimed" the victim was talking to her boyfriend

doesn't mean that it actually happened--just that the perp thinks it happened.

the victim didn't deserve to be beaten for that, despite what sex one may think she is.

[formernaderite]

119. my wife reminded me there are talk shows on television

that regularly broadcast and promote this sort of violence between women... the name of the hosts has unfortunately escapes my memory.

This in no way excuses the behavior, but it is an unfortunate aspect of our culture.

[SharksBreath]

122. That would be Jerry Springer.

Springer will have a guy come on the show with his new girl who has a secret to tell.

She tells him she's a man and the guy loses it.

That's why I said the girl is lucky the boyfriend didn't beat her up.

If he would have realized it was a man I'm pretty sure he would have been the one giving out the beatdown.

Not a hate crime. Just a girl thing.

Lesson learned. Don't flirt with someone's boyfriend when the girlfriend is in the area.

[RedCloud]

132. And also Maury Povich has the "Male or female?" show.

Amazing!

[JNelson6563]

124. Those attackers are lucky my brothers and I were not there

But a woman alone against these thugs didn't stand a chance. She tried to help and for that she is a hero. I hope they throw the book at the attackers.

I just don't understand why anyone cares if the person at another table at McDonald's is whatever they are regarding sexual orientation. Who fucking cares? It's nobodies' business.

I guess there are just plenty of assholes in the world. My heart goes out to the woman who was beaten.

Julie

[chervilant]

125. Consider:

Far too many of us are in react mode, driven by inchoate fears and resentments. Far too many of us are willing to pollute our spirits with negativity, eagerly engaging in name-calling and other forms of vilification. Far too many of us are willing to glorify violence or resort to violence, often just for entertainment or personal gratification.

We seldom acknowledge the import of overpopulation, but Calhoun's research with rats has proven that when a critical level of overpopulation occurs, the outcome isn't pretty. With rats, abnormal sexual behavior, hyperaggression, eating their young, and increased mortality are a few of the problems that occur. With humans,... well, isn't it past time we acknowledge that our species has passed a critical tipping point?

Watching the hoi polloi pick sides, and lob verbal grenades at each other, as though our corporatist-driven political and/or religious ideologies are the most important framework within which we coexist on this planet, remains both disappointing and unsettling. I constantly remind myself that some of us MUST be the points of light that guide our species through these dark times. Ms. Thoms, an older and vulnerable bystander witnessing a brutal assault, is one of our points of light.