A Dallas man was arrested in the brutal beating of a male-to-female transgender that was caught on video.
Police arrested Edward Thomas, 29, late Sunday night. He was caught on cell phone video brutally punching Muhlaysia Booker, 23, outside an apartment complex south of downtown Dallas on Friday.
The video went viral on social media and Thomas was quickly identified in tips to police.
In the video a crowd gathers around the victim who was just involved in a fender bender in front of the apartment complex.
As the crowd grows, a male voice is heard asking “That’s a he?” Thomas is seen approaching the victim and swinging wildly as others stomp Booker.
Several women stopped the assault and carried Booker to a car. One of the women confronted another MTF transgender who stood by and didn’t help Booker. Several people chased the transgender away.
Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said the brutal beating appeared to be “mob violence” against a transgender.
“Those who did this do not represent how Dallasites feel about our thriving LGBTQ community,” Rawlings said in a statement on Saturday. “We will not stand for this kind of behavior.”
The victim sustained facial fractures and a fractured arm. Booker is at home recovering.
Booker thanked supporters in a Facebook post on Saturday. Booker reportedly wanted the video to go viral to raise awareness about violence toward male-to-female transgenders.
The video was viewed more than 136,000 times.
