Trans teen beaten by group of 20 people in horrific attack
(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
A transgender teenager has been beaten by a group of 20 people in a horrific transphobic attack.
Dakota Kern has spoken about the horrific attack which she says she was lured into.
The 18-year-old told CBS that she was invited to a pool party, where she knew some of the other people.
Kern, from Phoenix in Arizona, explained that when she arrived with two friends some people began to shout homophobic and transphobic slurs.
When she tried to leave, somebody shouted “get it, get it” prompting the attack.
Around 20 people began to attack her.
The horrific ordeal was caught on camera.
It shows Kern being pushed to the ground and repeatedly kicked and grabbed while friends try and protect her.
“I passed out, hit my head on the concrete,” she explained.
“My friend was above me like slapping my face like ‘hey, come on come on, get up so we can go’.
“Then one of the guys, he ends up grabbing me by my head, grabbing me by my hair and then he hit me a few times,” she added.
Friends finally got the teen away to the hospital where her mother was called.
The mother explained that she was shocked by the situation and scared for her daughter’s future.
She said: “Everyone of them should be put in jail.
“Is my child going to come home today? Is somebody going to pick my child up and drag my child to the desert?”
Kern wants the attackers to be charged with hate crime offences.
She also sent a message for her attackers: “Grow up honestly. Become famous off of something else.”
“This is always going to be me. If you like it, stay. If you don’t close the door.”
