After the horrendous mass shooting in Philadelphia earlier this week — a shooting that left five dead and several others injured — the LGB...
After the horrendous mass shooting in Philadelphia earlier this week — a shooting that left five dead and several others injured — the LGBTQIA Advisory Committee with the district attorney's office has slammed reports that the male suspect was "trans."
On Monday, 40-year-old Kimbrady "Kim" Carriker arrived at the Kingsessing neighborhood in southern Philadelphia, armed with a rifle and pistol, and allegedly began firing at random residents. Carriker allegedly fatally shot four males on the street and one in a home, reports claimed. When police cornered him in an alley and arrested him, they supposedly found him carrying two guns, extra magazines, a bulletproof vest, and a police scanner.
Shortly after news broke about the shooting, several outlets reported that Carriker was a known transvestite. Multiple neighbors reported seeing Carriker "dressed as a woman" on occasion, as had his grandmother. A since-deleted Facebook account believed to be associated with the suspect also shared self-taken photographs of Carriker wearing long braids, women's jewelry, and a women's tank top fitted tightly enough to reveal a bra-like garment underneath.
Despite evidence suggesting that the accused regularly presented himself as a woman, a psychologist on the Philadelphia district attorney's LGBTQIA Advisory Committee has denied that Carriker is "trans." "I want to set the record straight because language is extremely important, and we're talking about anything dealing with violence and trans community," said the psychologist, believed to be known BLM activist Asa Khalif. "The suspect, the shooter has not identified themselves as trans. They have only identified themselves as male. And that's the language that will be used until further developments [or] if they change that type of language."
Though the psychologist admitted that the suspect may have worn "female attire or female outfits" in some photographs, Khalif still railed against "conservative bigots" and "conservative media" for their "violent" assumption that the suspect is "trans." He claimed that such reports were "violent in terms of verbal and written words" and that such linguistic violence is "dangerous" because it encourages others "to be violent." He said the language was also particularly harmful to "trans women of color," whom he claimed "are extremely vulnerable to violence."
Khalif then spoke generally about "trans women" and "trans men." He claimed that such individuals are "working" and "thriving in their communities" and just want "to live their lives" in peace. "They are not killers," the LGBTQIA psychologist stated, adding that the focus on transgenderism is just an "escape goat."
Khalif's full remarks can be heard in the video below. His statement concludes at the 24:23 mark:
When Carriker was arrested and photographed for his mugshot, he appeared as male with short braided hair and a mustache. However, police still used "they/them" pronouns to describe the suspect in their initial reports. They have since switched to using male pronouns after officials from the district attorney’s office said "they had no information indicating that the suspect considered himself anything but male," the New York Times reported according to the Advocate.
For his alleged role in the shooting, Carriker has been assessed a slew of charges, including murder, attempted murder, assault, and reckless endangerment. He is currently in custody without bail and is scheduled to appear in court again on July 24.
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