Breaking News: Interview With Woman That Tried To Stop McDonald's Beating

For those of you that have seen the now viral video of Chrissy Lee Polis, getting beaten by two women outside a Baltimore area McDonald's ladies room, it's apparent that no one in the restaurant tried to save her.  The manager made a vain attempt to break up the attack.  Other employees can be heard laughing and practically cheering the assailants on.  The employee that took the video even went so far as to tell the attackers to run, before the police showed up.

No one seemed to be on this young woman's side, except for Vicky L. Thoms.  She is the lady in white that steps in at about the 2:00 mark to try to protect Ms. Polis.  If you watch the video closely, you can even see Polis wrap her arm around Thoms' leg, in a desperate attempt to get away.  But Thoms was out numbered and out matched.  She was punched, "the way someone would punch a man", according to Thoms, and shoved to the ground.

"Interviewed in her home Monday by The Baltimore Sun, Thoms said she had stepped in because she feared the assault on Polis might be fatal. "I thought, 'They're going to kill her,' " Thoms recalled, stressing that she is not a heroine and would have helped anyone, despite her concern about aggravating a back injury. I couldn't take it any more," Thoms said, describing her horror as she watched the beating for about two minutes.

She also said she had no idea the victim was transgendered, but added that it would not have mattered. "It didn't matter if it was a pig laying there being beaten," she went on, tearfully.

"I still would have helped. I knew she was clinging on to her life. I just keep seeing it over and over again." 

  

Breaking: Candlelight Vigil Taking Place Tonight At Scene Of McDonald's Beating

At 7PM Est. tonight, a candlelight vigil is scheduled to take place at the McDonald's location in Rosedale, MD, where Chrissy Lee Polis was savagely beaten on April 18th.  The vigil, organized by a number of local equality, trans, and LGBT organizations, is meant to show support for not only Ms. Polis, but the transgendered community in the Baltimore area as a whole.

The vigil is being planned Trans-United, TransMaryland, the Baltimore County for Equality, the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center of Baltimore and other allies. 

“Our primary concern is for Ms. Polis’ well being. We will support her through this difficult time and we ask that the legal process be unhampered and thorough,” TransMaryland spokeswoman Jenna Fischetti says in a press release issued on April 24. 

“This is precisely the kind of hatred and bigotry that transgender women and men deal with on a daily basis,” adds Caroline Temmerand of the GLCCB, the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center of Baltimore and Central Maryland. “We as a society have failed if we cannot do more to protect all Marylanders from this kind of brutality.”

Based upon a large number of hateful comments that I have seen on local Baltimore news sites, I wouldn't be surprised to see some counter protesters, at what should otherwise be a peaceful event. When video of the vigil becomes available, I will have it posted on The Daily Twitch.

So far, Baltimore Police has charged one of the assailants, a 14 year old female, as a juvenile.  Police are still trying to determine whether to try her as an adult saying, "We're looking at the proper place for her case to be".  The prosecutor has not ruled out the filing of hate crime charges at this time.

The other woman involved, 18 year old Teonna Monae Brown, was arrested on a count of first degree assault and two counts of second degree assault for her role in the April 18th beating.  She has extra charges against her for punching the 55 year old woman that tried to stop the attack.

Interestingly enough, she was arrested on July 27, 2010, for a fight with a man, that took place inside the same McDonald's location.  The victim in that case dropped the charges, but refused to tell prosecutors why he wanted them dropped.

The District Attorney's office has said that no charges will be filed against Vernon Hackett, the asshole that filmed the attack on his cell phone and did nothing to stop the beating.  The state of Maryland does not have any laws that impose punishment on someone that fail to help those that are being attacked.  He did lose his job, though, and has had his name and image blasted across every television across the state labeling him as a douchebag.

In case you were wondering, Polis is planning on suing the McDonald's corporation for what some of their employees did that evening, but more importantly, what they didn't do.  No one stepped in and helped her when she needed it most.