South Carolina law enforcement officials say there is “no danger to the transgender community” as a transgender teenager was found dead this week after going missing and two suspects were taken into custody.
Family members reported Jacob Williamson, 18, as a missing person to authorities in the city of Laurens, according to the Union County Sheriff’s Office. The family said they last saw or heard from Williamson on the evening of June 30, a sheriff’s news release said. The sheriff’s office launched an investigation into Williamson’s disappearance on July 2, according to the release.
Joshua Newton, 25, has been charged with first-degree murder and obstruction of justice. Victoria Smith, 22, has been charged with obstruction of justice and assisting Newton after he allegedly committed the crime, according to the sheriff’s office.
Newton is being held at the Union County Jail without bond, while Smith is being held on a $3 million bond at the same jail, records show. As of Thursday morning, it was unclear if either had obtained attorneys. Their next court dates are scheduled for August 8, records show.
Union County Sheriff’s Office Lt. James Maye said law enforcement doesn’t have a reason to believe Williamson’s preferred name and gender marker were part of the suspects’ motive.
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A baby-faced 14-year-old boy has been accused of trying to murder a black teenager by attempting to drown him in a Cape Cod pond.
John Sheeran appeared at a court just outside Boston on Monday over the July incident, which allegedly saw him hurl racist slurs at his unnamed victim - and even call the teen 'George Floyd' during the drowning attempts.
He wore a navy suit, shirt and tie. Despite prosecutors' calls for Sheeran to remain in custody, a judge released him with a tag and ordered him to remain at his father's home.
The victim told law enforcement Sheeran started throwing rocks at him and calling him racial slurs after he showed up at Goose Pond on Cape Cod. Sheeran then threatened to beat up the victim, it is alleged.
The victim couldn't swim, so he wore a life jacket in the water. Despite the vest, Sheeran attempted to pull him under the water multiple times to the point that victim was no longer able to breathe, it is alleged.
In July, Sheeran allegedly attempted to drown a black teen in Goose Pond (pictured) in Chatham, Massachusetts
The victim told police that the accused 'held on to my life jacket and pulled me underwater and back up about four-to-five times ... while doing it water got into my mouth and nose and I could not breathe.'
Afterwards, the victim said Sheeran began calling him 'George Floyd' while kicking him and pulling him beneath the water.
The victim said he was screaming he couldn't breathe, which was when the suspect and another teenager at the scene 'started laughing and called me George Floyd.'
He continued crying for help as the two teens continued to pull him under the water. Eventually, bystanders arrived to help and the victim was saved. The other alleged attacker hasn't been identified - and it is unclear if Sheeran knew his alleged victim prior to the attack.
Prosecutors allege just several hours later, Sheeran punched an Asian child in the face. That child has not been identified.
Sheeran was charged with attempted murder and a civil rights violation in connection to the case.
In court on Monday, baby-faced Sheeran was led into the room with his hands cuffed in front of him.
His mop of brown hair turned downward as he took a seat before the judge. He wore a blue suit and striped tie.
Over objections from prosecutors, Sheeran was released to home confinement in Chatham. His release includes wearing a GPS monitoring device that will confine him to his father's home. He is also required to continue reporting to juvenile probation.
Prosecutors argued Sheeran should remain in jail, calling him a danger to the community.
The victim said Sheeran began calling him George Floyd as he screamed that he couldn't breathe. Floyd infamously told officers that he couldn't breathe before he died during an altercation with Minneapolis cops in 2020
Sheeran was released to his father's custody. Earlier this summer, he had moved to Florida with his mother as his parents went through a divorce
The suspect allegedly began the criminal interaction by throwing rocks at the victim and calling him racial slurs
'Mr. Sheeran can’t be out in the community because whether it’s three o’clock in the afternoon at a pond with his friends where he should be able to behave or 8:15 at night when he runs into another child, he punches that kid,' said Assistant District Attorney Eileen Moriarty in court.
'He’s a violent child, we’ve heard no mitigating factors, this violence is unfortunately targeted towards children of other races, children that don’t look like him,' she added.
At the time of the incident, Sheeran had just moved to Florida with his mother, as his parents went through a divorce, according to prosecutors.
The teen will now be required to stay in Chatham with his father as the court case continues.
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For a group that shouts how much they hate cops, men in dresses have no hesitancy to call the cops on women who hurt their gender feelz
By Jennifer Sieland March 9, 2024
British broadcaster India Willoughby is claiming that Northumbria Police have logged a “Non Crime Hate Incident” against Harry Potter creator JK Rowling after he reported the beloved author for “misgendering” him.
While Willoughby has long expressed his contempt of Rowling, having made hundreds of tweets about her gender critical statements over the years, the tension came to a head this week after Rowling stated that Willoughby did not “become a woman.”
On March 3, Rowling made a post in support of women’s single-sex spaces, which trans activists quickly clamored under to interrogate.
“Why should trans women be forced to use male spaces? Don’t you understand just how humiliating for us that would be? Or don’t you care?” one user questioned, to which Rowling replied: “Somebody really should have explained to you that your hurt feelings don’t trump other people’s rights, nor are women and girls validation props or comfort blankets.”
Another user, by the name of Socialist Stanley, then confronted Rowling with a gif of British broadcaster and trans activist India Willoughby, writing: “Hi Joanne, so you are saying this lady should use the men’s locker room then?!”
Rowling responded: “India didn’t become a woman. India is cosplaying a misogynistic male fantasy of what a woman is.”
Willoughby, born Jonathan, began claiming to be a woman in 2015 at the age of 50, officially becoming the UK’s first transgender newsreader. He has previously incited criticism for boasting of getting a “designer vagina,” which he said he chose from a catalogue like “going for a haircut.”
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By Natasha Biase March 8, 2024
An off-duty bartender has been convicted of a “hate” motivated crime after shoving and misgendering a trans-identified male in the washroom of a bar. On March 6, Cassandra McIntyre was found guilty of second-degree bias crime and harassment charges stemming from a 2022 confrontation with a man who identifies as a “woman.”
According to journalist Andy Ngo, McIntyre had just finished her shift at Jake’s Place, a sports bar in Portland, when she encountered far-left activist Riis Larsen, formerly Ronald A. Larsen, in the women’s washroom. Clearly startled, McIntyre told Larsen to “get out” of the intimate space.
Surveillance footage shows McIntyre lightly pushing Larsen, who identifies as a “queer demi-binary trans woman,” after he shoved another person to cut in line for the washroom.
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