The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is being sued by a transgender woman for excessive force, namely firing a taser at her groin, during an encounter with a BLM ranger on public lands in the Imperial County dessert, as reported by UT San Diego.
B.F. contends that while she was engaged in a photo shoot near El Centro, Ranger R.P. had a total reversal in his attitude toward the victim – once he learned from her identification that she had completed a gender change.
The suit states that on October 22, 2011, Ranger R.P. approached B.F.'s group and asked for identification.
B.F.'s current license identified her still as a male; however, she was in the midst of changing her gender. This confusion, according to the suit, caused Ranger R.P. to alter his responses to B.F.
B.F. told reporters, "He was super nice, until he saw the ID. He went from calling me ' Miss' and 'Ma'am' when it first started, to 'Sir,' 'Dude' and eventually calling me 'it.'"
Ranger R.P. searched B.F.'s classic Datsun truck that was being used in the shoot, sat around for over an hour to watch what the group was doing and then, when B.F. asked him to leave as the models were nervous with him there, Ranger R.P. arrested B.F. for public drunkenness.
B.F. contends that she only consumed two beers during the shoot and was not drunk.
The event was videotaped – and later put up on YouTube. Overheard is a discussion between the Ranger R.P. and B.F. Then, while B.F. is seen holding her arms up, she turned her head to ask her friends to "take pictures, take pictures" and within seconds Ranger R.P. is seen tasering B.F. and she falls backwards onto the ground.
The friend taping the incident is overheard announcing that she is videotaping it; B.F. is heard reassuring a child, named "Dylan", that she had done nothing wrong. While B.F. is on the ground, one of her friends retrieves her identification and hands it to Ranger R.P.
An Imperial County sheriff's deputy is also seen on the video, standing a few feet away.
The ranger and the deputy are then seen rolling B.F. from her back and onto her stomach so that they can handcuff her. At this point B.F. is tasered a second time, in the groin.
The video is peppered with profanity and calls of police brutality throughout its 8-minute length, while B.F. lays motionless on the ground.
According to the lawsuit B.F. had a blood test after the attack and it came back clear for alcohol.
After her arrest for suspicion of public drunkenness, B.F. allegedly made negative remarks to Ranger R.P. in the hospital, and was also charged with making a terrorist threat. The suit states that B.F. told Ranger R.P. something along the lines of "this will not be the last time you'll hear from me."
Attorney Douglas Gilliland, in representing B.F., said that Ranger R.P.'s "demeanor completely changed" and that all of the witnesses at the scene felt it was "palpable."
In this lawsuit the plaintiff was injured both physically and emotionally by the acts of the defendant. If you have a case of personal injury contact a personal injury lawyer for help right away.