According to the Tennessee Equality Project, a trans woman and her mother were assaulted last Friday at a Kohl's Department Store in Jackson, Tenn.
When store personnel unlocked the doors to the store, Akasha Adonis and her mother, both of Humboldt, Tenn., were entering the store when another woman approached them and attempted to push through them into the store.
Adonis says the woman jumped into her face and began cussing at her. At the same time, a man attacked Adonis and another woman at the entrance.
The assailant hit Adonis and pulled out her hair as he pulled her through the door into the store. The man then shoved his hand in her mouth with his thumb, tore three of her teeth out of socket, and broke her jaw as he forced Adonis to the ground.
Adonis received medical care from a local emergency room and oral surgeon after the assault. Her injuries required corrective surgery for her teeth and jaw earlier this week, with medical bills estimated at $6000.
Adonis, whose photo identification lists her name as Johnathan Quick, says that she received poor treatment from the Jackson Police Department after they began investigation of the incident.
"When the officer saw that it was a male name, and I was a male to female transexual, he immediately changed his demeanor in how he treated me and the other witnesses," Adonis told the Tennessee Equality Project. "He rolled his eyes and turned his back to not look at me and said that he had other places to be."
When Adonis and her mother contacted the Jackson Police Department to complain about their mistreatment, they were informed that the department could not obtain a copy of the video surveillance from Kohl's without a subpoena. Kohl's management contacted Adonis yesterday to request her completion of an incident report for their company.
Under the advisement of TEP's Madison County Committee Chair Drew Baker, Adonis and her mother have filed a complaint against the officer. At this time, Adonis is considering options on whether to pursue civil rights complaints.