Transgender man with disability shot five times with pellet gun in drive-by transphobic attack at gas station in Michigan
Andrew Blake-Newton, 30, said he was violently attacked with a shotgun from a gun on Saturday night. Authorities are working to track down the transgender man, who is wheelchair-bound, when the alleged assault occurred on his way to a local gas station. Crime is offering a $1,000 reward to anyone with information leading to the perpetrators and suspects
A transgender man in Michigan says he was the victim of a transphobic attack in which he was shot in a pellet-gun attack while traveling along a sidewalk in a wheelchair.
Andrew Blake-Newton, 30, said he was shot five times over the weekend by a car full of people who taunted the disabled man and shouted anti-transgender slogans while laughing before they drove off.
Blake-Newton told a local NBC affiliate: ‘No one should have to go through this. No one.’
Police are now looking for suspects and are offering a $1,000 reward in the case.
Andrew Blake-Newton (right), a transgender man, said he was shot five times with a pellet gun on his way to a local gas station Saturday night.
The alleged attack happened just after midnight Saturday as Blake-Newton drove to a gas station to get breakfast from her home in Pontiac – outside Detroit.
He was traveling in his wheelchair on the sidewalk when he was allegedly approached by pedestrians in a small, tan sedan.
Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said, ‘It is reprehensible that anyone would do such a cowardly and despicable thing to a person in a wheelchair and they need to be held accountable.’
He said a $1,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest of the perpetrators.
In an interview, Blake-Newton showed what looked like pellet-gun scars on various parts of her body, including her legs.
‘It was so bad that I was oozing fluid, and in hospital there was fluid pooling around my leg. Since this has happened, I cannot rest. I could barely sleep because of the pain,’ Blake-Newton said.
‘No one should have to go through this. No one,’ said Blake-Newton
A suburban Detroit gas station, near where the alleged attack took place
Andrew Blake-Newton (right) describes the attack with her husband Gareth Newton (right)
Blake-Newton, who is in a wheelchair, showed off her bruises
‘It was so bad that I was oozing fluid, and in hospital there was fluid pooling around my leg. Since this has happened, I cannot rest. I could barely sleep because of the pain,’ Blake-Newton said
“That someone would do such a cowardly and despicable thing to a person in a wheelchair is reprehensible and they must be held accountable,” said Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard.
Blake’s husband Gareth Newton said he was relieved his partner was not more seriously injured.
‘I’m glad she’s still with me. I would have been heartbroken if I had lost him,’ he said, thankful that the weapon used was ‘just a pellet gun’.
‘I’ve seen trans people of color get shot on social media,’ he said.
This year, the Human Rights Campaign, which tracks serious violence against trans people, has reported at least 14 violent deaths of trans and gender-nonconforming people.
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