NY man who brutally beat 2 transgender women on St. Patrick’s Day charged with hate crime

NYPD is charging repeat offender Patrick O’Meara, 38, from Long Island, with a hate crime after he screamed transphobic slurs while brutally attacking two transgender women outside a Queens McDonalds on Friday.

O’Meara began yelling at the women as they tried to enter the restaurant, calling them “bitches” and “faggots,” DNAinfo reported. He then pushed one victim to the ground and repeatedly punched and kicked her. He briefly left the scene only to return with a cane to attack the second victim, whom he also punched in the face.

The two women sustained injuries including a broken ankle and lacerations.

Bianey García, LGBTQ Justice organizer at Make the Road New York, told NBC New York:

We are horrified that transgender individuals in our community have suffered yet another hate attack. We will continue to organize in our communities and send the message that Jackson Heights and New York City must welcome and embrace all of us, and that hate has no place in our neighborhood and our City.

O’Meara has a rap sheet of at least six arrests, including charges of grand larceny auto and driving while intoxicated, DNAinfo reported.

According to LGBTQ Nation, citing the 2015 U.S. Trans Survey, half of transgender people say they were sexually assaulted that year, and one in 10 were physically assaulted due to bias. At least seven trans people have been killed across the U.S. already in 2017, including Jaquarrius Holland, Chyna Doll Dupree, and Ciara McElveen, who were all killed in the past month in LA.

Last Thursday, former Vice President Joe Biden blasted the Trump administration for its hateful rhetoric and policies targeting the LGBTQ youth community.

As Fusion’s Nidhi Prakash reports, Biden stated:

Instead of focusing on the fact that 40% of homeless youth in the street are identified as lesbians, gay, bisexual, and transgender and rejected by their families out on the street and what do we do about that? We’re now focusing on whether or not a transgender child, which bathroom they can use.