US: Transgender woman sues after taser incident
A transgender woman in California has filed a federal lawsuit accusing the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) of excessive force after a taser was fired at her groin.
UT San Diego reported Brooke Fantelli said on Monday that the ranger involved in the altercation was polite until learning of her gender transition.
In a lawsuit filed last week at a federal court in San Diego, Ms Fantelli accused Ranger J Peters of excessive force during an incident in the Imperial County desert in October of last year.
Ms Fantelli and a group of people were on a photo shoot when the ranger approached and requested identification.
Ms Fantelli’s licence still listed her as male, and after Mr Peters saw it, she claims he became rude and stunned her twice with a taser.
The device hit her as she stood standing still with her hands in the air.
The lawsuit said the ranger arrested Ms Fantelli for being drunk in public.
Although she had consumed two beers, she said she was not intoxicated, a blood test taken later showed Ms Fantelli had no alcohol in her system and no charges were ever filed against her.
Video of the incident then appeared on YouTube.
Stephen Razo, a BLM spokesman, said yesterday that the agency needed to review the lawsuit before making any comment.
Ms Fantelli builds and races off-road cars and has won 46 such races in her racing career.
