cece mcdonald | THE GUERRILLA ANGEL REPORT by Lexie Cannes

June 7, 2012 • 7:20 PM 2

[UPDATE - Bank pulls out of Pride parade] Portland, Ore., molotov cocktail bomb attempt is reaction to trans woman CeCe McDonald jailing

THE GUERRILLA ANGEL REPORT — [UPDATE: Bank pulls out of Pride parade. See below.] An unlit molotov cocktail and a broken window was found in a Wells Fargo bank Wednesday and an email sent to a Portland television station indicated that the people claiming responsibility for the bomb attempt took this action out of ‘solidarity’ for trans woman CeCe McDonald.

There are no other details or other news sources reporting on this crime. CeCe McDonald was sentenced to 3.5 years a few days ago for her part in a confrontation that left one man dead.

Here are some excerpts from the email:

“This action has been committed in solidarity with CeCe McDonald, a trans woman of color who rightfully defended herself from assault and has been sentenced to 41 months in a men’s prison, despite her gender and valid safety concerns, as transgendered women face high instances of physical and sexual assault in men’s prisons.”

. . .

”Wells Fargo stands as an easy target, funding the prison industrial complex along with the policing and judicial system which uphold the banking system and its profits… With such institutionalized corruption forcing beautiful queers like CeCe through such immense hardship, attacking these institutions directly is a small but necessary gesture. Just as the police attack our comrades to reify (sic) their position of power, we queers and dissenters attack back to assert just the opposite — that police and state control is illusionary.”

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UPDATE: Wells Fargo pulls out of Portland Pride parade over safety concerns:

Wells Fargo Bank won’t be participating in this year’s Portland Pride Parade because of safety concerns, a company spokesman confirmed Friday.

The decision comes just two days after vandalism at a Wells Fargo Bank branch on Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, where it appears there was an attempt to throw a molotov cocktail through a window. Arson investigators and police responded, but it turned out there was no fire.

A gay rights activist group claimed responsibility for the vandalism in an email to FOX 12. The reason for the vandalism, the email said, was that Wells Fargo funds a prison industrial complex where a transgendered woman is serving a sentence in a men’s prison. The group said this puts the woman at a higher risk of sexual assault.

A Wells Fargo spokesman said the company doesn’t want to put employees at risk of assault or the company’s replica stagecoach at risk of vandalism during the parade.

Wells Fargo workers will still have a booth at the Portland Pride Parade and Festival, and a spokesman said the company hopes to return next year.

Anyone with information about this vandalism, which happened overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday, is asked to contact Arson Investigator Rick McGraw at (503) 823-3797.

Source: http://www.kptv.com/story/18742266/wells-fargo-wont-march-in-gay-pride-parade-after-vandalism#.T9KJJ5vDOPJ.facebook

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My most recent posts on the CeCe McDonald matter: http://lexiecannes.wordpress.com/2012/06/06/prominent-trans-advocate-arrested-for-graffiti-following-cece-mcdonald-sentencing/

http://lexiecannes.wordpress.com/2012/05/02/trans-woman-cece-mcdonald-pleads-guilty-to-manslaughter-to-serve-3-years/

NWCN.com Washington – Oregon – Idaho.

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Filed under: Discrimination, Equality, Civil Rights, Transgender, Transsexual, Trans, cece mcdonald, molotov cocktail, portland, wells fargo

June 6, 2012 • 12:14 AM 2

Prominent trans advocate arrested for graffiti following CeCe McDonald sentencing

(Photo credits – campkc.com, startribune.com)

THE GUERRILLA ANGEL REPORT — Transgender author and advocate Leslie Feinberg was arrested in connection with graffiti sprayed on the Hennepin County (Minn.) Public Safety Facility building in Minneapolis. The spray painted message on the jail house said: “Free CeCe!”

The message refers to the controversal sentencing of CeCe McDonald to a 3 and a half-year jail term for her part in a confrontation that resulted in the death of one person. Although by and large the trans community feels McDonald acted in self-defense, but McDonald agreed to a plea deal to avoid a possible longer sentence if the case went to trial. Supporters were hoping for a shortened term on Monday, the day she was scheduled to be sentenced. The judge did not shorten the term but instead just gave her credit for the 250-odd days she has already spent in jail.

At this writing Feinberg is now jailed without bail and the Trans Youth Support Network, a group supporting McDonald released this statement:

“Outraged supporters took to the streets, blocking traffic for over an hour in protest of the violent abuses McDonald has faced at the hands of our legal system.” The 100 or so demonstrators made noise “loud enough to be heard within the facility”

Stay tuned.

More on the CeCe McDonald saga: http://lexiecannes.wordpress.com/2012/05/02/trans-woman-cece-mcdonald-pleads-guilty-to-manslaughter-to-serve-3-years/

Graffiti backing ‘CeCe’ sprayed on county jail; prominent transgender author arrested | StarTribune.com.

Leslie Feinberg, county employee cleans off graffiti (Photo credits – campkc.com, startribune.com)

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Filed under: Discrimination, Equality, Civil Rights, Transgender, Transsexual, Trans, cece mcdonald, Free CeCe now, graffiti, Leslie Feinberg, Trans Youth Support Network

May 2, 2012 • 8:52 PM 3

Trans woman CeCe McDonald pleads guilty to manslaughter – to serve 3+ years

CeCe McDonald

THE GUERRILLA ANGEL REPORT — In what amounts to a surprising turn of events, CeCe McDonald pleaded guilty to second degree manslaughter on the third day of her murder trial. She is reported to be sentenced to 3 years and 5 month in prison next month.

Among some of the possible reasons for the plea agreement is the judge’s refusal to allow certain evidence, the attempt by the DA to bring in McDonald’s past minor crime history and perhaps the makeup of the jury. It was also brought up that McDonald had a weapon and the deceased did not. Keep in mind that none of these things have been confirmed by the defense team at this point.

According to Hennepin County District Attorney Mike Freeman the plea agreement was suggested by McDonald’s lawyer.

Freeman: “My feeling is that this is an appropriate resolution to a tragic situation. One person is dead and another person going to prison for 41 months.”

Sylvia Rivera Law Project’s Dean Spade was at the trial. He spoke to Pretty Queer:

“At about 11:30 or 11:45, they brought folks in and it was to do a plea deal. They did not continue jury selection. Basically what that means is that CeCe took the stand and her lawyer went through with her the facts of the evening she was attacked, and then the prosecutor and judge asked her a few questions and she pled guilty. . . .

My understanding is that from the perspective of her attorneys this was a legal victory even though it is unjust because this is one of the lowest possible plea deals she could get.

It is obviously not a victory for justice, but one of the better legal options. Of course, there were a lot of mixed feelings and a lot of sadness in the courtroom.”

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This is a great write-up on the CeCe McDonald saga by Jillian T. Weiss:

“Many defendants are pressured into plea deals when facing hyper-aggressive charges. In this case, Ms. McDonald faced 40 years in prison under Minnesota’s second degree murder charge. The judge’s rulings against her on the evidence were also likely determining factors in her decision. These would have allowed in the gruesomely bloody shirt of the victim, but not his swastika tattoo, her own bad check conviction, but not the theft convictions of the witnesses against her. She also would have had to face the likely transphobia of the jury. . . .”

http://www.bilerico.com/2012/05/death_and_the_maiden.php

Stay tuned. I’ll update as more details become available, especially from the defense team.

For details on the events leading up to the charges: http://lexiecannes.wordpress.com/2012/02/10/the-saga-of-jailed-trans-woman-chrishaun-cece-mcdonald/

Huffington Post: CeCe McDonald, Minnesota Transgender Woman, Pleads Guilty In Manslaughter Case Despite Supporters’ Defense

More details and comments from DA Freeman: http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/news/2012/05/02/cece-mcdonald-pleads-guilty-manslaughter

CeCe McDonald

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