After countless protests and support from around the world, transgendered woman CeCe McDonald was freed this week from a men’s prison.
McDonald’s case caught national attention and massive support from the LGBT community in June 2011 when McDonald, along with her friends, were taunted with racial and homophobic slurs after a leaving a bar in Minneapolis.
According to CeCe McDonald’s testimony, 47-year-old Dean Schmitz yelled, “Look at that boy dressed like a girl.” Molly Flaherty, Dean’s ex-girlfriend, yelled out something to the effect of, “I can take all three of you bitches on.” Without provocation, Flaherty smashed a glass bottle against CeCe’s face.
Allegedly, a fight broke out which ended with CeCe pulling a pair of fabric scissors from her purse and stabbing Schmitz in the chest. Witnesses told police Schmitz was trying to pull people off McDonald when he held his hand to his shirt and said, “You stabbed me.” According to another witness, McDonald then said, “Yes, I did.”
Schmitz, a father of three with an extensive criminal history, died at the scene from a stab wound to his chest. CeCe McDonald, the only individual arrested that night, would be treated over at the Hennepin County Medical Center later that morning for a laceration to her face.
McDonald was charged in the death of Dean Schmitz. She was sentenced in May 2012 to spend 41 months in a men’s prison, even though she identifies as a woman. Supporters came out from all over in favor of McDonald acting in self defense, as well as against the court’s refusal to move her to another prison. With the help of her supporters, McDonald was vocal through her blog, and discussed her ordeals in the men’s prison, still believing that justice would be served.
I would have rather been punished for asserting myself than become another victim of hatred. No, I’m not saying violence is key or all people should react the way I did, but our communities, whether here or abroad, have become the victim of malicious and hateful crimes. We need to start now.
According to the StarTribune of Minneapolis, McDonald served 19 months out of her 41-month prison sentence and has requested privacy while she reunites with her family and loved ones. A post from one of her supporters also added that more information will be released when McDonald is ready to speak.
She will wait and write a public statement about her release after she gets out of prison, because she wants to tell you all in her own words and own time. She would like to spend her first days out in privacy, with people she feels close to. Again, information about her release will be shared when CeCe feels it is the right time to do so. In the meantime, she and her support committee ask everyone to be patient.
McDonald’s story will be profiled in Orange Is The New Black star Laverne Cox’s documentary “Free CeCe,” which will focus on the details of the attack and her stay at a men’s prison.
SOURCE: StarTribune, Buzz Feed | Photo Credit: Facebook
