Let’s not forget that #BlackTransLivesMatter! Amid nationwide protests that have sparked international support for the #BlackLivesMatter movement, a heartbreaking video has surfaced of a Black trans woman being brutally beaten and attacked by an angry mob of men in the same city where George Floyd was murdered by police.
Iyanna Dior was violently attacked on Monday night after an apparent car accident in Minneapolis – the same city that has been the center of unrest over the police-caused death of George Floyd.
RELATED: Second Black Transgender Woman Found Shot to Death in South Carolina in 15 Days
In the clip, a group of men can be seen brutally attacking Iyanna after following her into a grocery store, while others look on. Some of the men can be heard shouting anti-LGBT slurs while Dior is beaten by a group of about 30 men.
It is unclear what happened before the incident and if anyone involved has been arrested in connection with the violent attack.
“Thanks to everyone reaching out making sure I’m ok. Imma talk real soon.” Dior said in a Facebook video post.
“The whole side of my face is literally swollen, it hurts so bad. On my forehead, I have knots and scratches.” Dior told followers on Facebook Live.
“My f**king arm is just swollen, it hurts so bad. I need to go to the hospital. My bottom teeth cut up my lips on the inside. A lot of s**t happened.”
In a lengthy Instagram post, Pose executive producer Janet Mock wrote:
“Sis. I’m sorry. I’m so f**king sorry. They didn’t have to come after you. But they did. There’s no f**king excuse for their brutality, their dangerous ignorance, their fragile masculinity. That s**t been killing us.
She added: “My heart aches for you. But we got you sis. You’re gonna heal. You rest now. Let us carry what you can’t right now. You deserve rest and peace. We’re showing the f**k up.
“Our fight for Black lives will not be in sacrifice of you or our sisters. We must stop centring cisgender heterosexual men and their needs. We will not ignore the violence some of these men enact on you, our sisters’ and our siblings’ lives.
“If Black lives matter then Black trans lives should matter as well. We are here. We been here. We need our Black cisgender siblings to roll up RIGHT NOW. You ain’t no ally. You are family. We are your family.”
Rapper Megan Thee Stallion also posted her support for Iyanna on Instagram saying,
“The video of lyanna Dior really broke my heart! 💔 Please help her out any way you can if you know her real cash app put it in the comments #blacklivesmatter #blacktranslivesmatter“.
Iyanna’s attack sheds light to the Black trans women who lost their lives in a silent epidemic that plagues many American communities and too often goes ignored.
#BlackTransLivesMatter
