Transgender Woman Attacked In Portland, Police Suspect Hate Crime

Transgenders are frequently assaulted, both verbally and physically by prejudice-driven people and a similar incident has happened in Portland.

Three people, one of them a transgender woman, were attacked in Portland, Oregon over hate crime. The assault took place in a downtown parking lot at around 2:30 a.m Thursday. By the time the officers arrived, the predators beat a hasty retreat, Portland police told NBC News.

The transgender woman, identified as Atlas Marshall, said she was hurled homophobic and transphobic slurs before being ambushed. She further added that the attack took place near some food carts and she cites queer intolerance as a reason, NBC Affiliate KGW of Portland reported.

Marshall told the station, "He saw me, visibly could tell I was trans, I was queer, and he started throwing homophobic and transphobic slurs at me."

It all started with snide remarks being hurled at Marshall. It then took an uglier turn where Marshall was held down by two men and beaten black and blue. The man who pulled the men off Marshall also ended up with a broken nose and a black eye.

Marshall’s friend, Austin Schuchard, told the station, "It's been very emotional, I've never really experienced, first on hate like this before.”

Portland Police, in a statement, revealed, “There were elements of the crime that possibly met the criteria for a Bias Crime.” They have also asked eyewitnesses to come forward with more information.

In Oregon, bias crimes are defined by the extent a person is targeted because of his race, color, religion, sexual preferences, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity or national origin, Portland Police added.

The incident came at the heels of another incident in which a transgender woman, Marla Standing-Owl was attacked while driving for the ride-sharing service Lyft on Sept. 6 in Portland. It was a drunk male customer whom she picked up from a hotel. "You’re nothing but a man," the drunk man told Standing-Owl.

She further told the station, "I told him I don’t need bigotry in my car and that’s when he snapped." The man allegedly punched her continuously until she revolted and used pepper spray over him to dissuade him.