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Tony McDade, a Black transgender man, was shot to death by a police officer Wednesday morning in Tallahassee, Fla.
McDade, 38, was accused of having fatally stabbed another man, the Tallahassee Democrat reports. McDade had posted a live video on Facebook saying he wanted revenge on a group of men who had beaten him the previous day, and he predicted a standoff with police. Another video showed “a brutal attack” on a man purported to be McDade, according to the paper. The name of the man who was stabbed has not been released.
McDade was shot just outside an apartment complex, where stories circulated among residents that he was unarmed. But Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell said McDade had pointed a gun at the officer. Witnesses said the officer was white; his name has not been publicly released either. Revell said there was nothing to indicate the shooting was racially motivated. A grand jury will review the matter, which is a routine practice. The officer has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the grand jury investigation.
McDade had been arrested several times, on charges including armed robbery and battery. He was convicted and sentenced on some charges, although others were dropped. He was arrested early in May for threatening a person with a BB gun that resembled a real firearm; he always carried such a gun, according to a police report.
A memorial to McDade was set up at the apartment complex, with signs reading “Black Lives Matter” and “Justice for Tony.” One resident, Jose Picasso, told the Democrat he believed police wanted to kill McDade.
Mayor John Dailey posted on social media that there had been a “tragic loss of lives” and that the Tallahassee Police Department would do a thorough investigation. “This comes on the heels of disturbing events around our nation that we will not ignore,” he added. “My heart goes out to the friends and families of those who lost their lives today and to the entire community that has been traumatized by today’s events.”
The other events included the killing of a Black man, George Floyd, by police officers in Minneapolis.
David John, executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition, issued a statement putting McDade’s death in the context of the killings of other African-Americans, including those who are LGBTQ+ or same-gender-loving, and seeking to raise awareness of hate crimes. McDade’s video showed “a horrific beating he received from five men because he is a Black trans man,” John said. “This tragic incident should be a reminder that hate crimes against Black LGBTQ/SGL people happen too frequently — often without the national public outcry that our cis and/or heteronormative brothers and sisters receive.”
“We don’t know a lot of the details around Tony’s death, or how police became involved,” John continued. “We do know that Tony should not have been killed. We must work together to raise awareness about the unique challenges that Black LGBTQ/SGL people face. It is important to highlight the too often ignored violence that members of our community face in addition to the discrimination we may experience because we are Black. We must also work to ensure that police officers understand they do not have a license to kill Black people, period.”
He called for a “full and complete investigation,” possibly resulting in the firing or decertification of the officer or officers involved, and perhaps criminal charges, along with “investing in promising and proven practices to reduce the rate at which Black people are murdered by police officers.”
“As we honor each of our siblings, including Nina Pop, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd, we must also say Tony’s name,” John concluded, listing recent victims. Arbery is the Black cisgender man who was shot to death near Brunswick, Ga. (three white men have been charged with his murder; Breonna Taylor is a Black cisgender woman killed by Louisville, Ky., police officers; and Pop is a Black trans woman murdered in Sikeston, Mo.
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