By Bill Parry
A Long Island man has been arrested and charged with a hate crime after allegedly attacking two transgender women outside a Jackson Height’s McDonald’s Friday, according to the NYPD.
Patrick O’Meara, 38, is accused of shouting anti-gay slurs, punching one of the women in the face and throwing another to the ground around at 4:30 p.m. on Roosevelt Avenue and 82nd Street, police said. He briefly left the scene and returned with a cane, hitting one of the victims in the hand, causing a laceration, they said.
Both victims were taken to Long Island Jewish Forest Hills hospital where one was treated for a fractured ankle, police said. O’Meara, who authorities say was intoxicated, was charged with two counts of assault as a hate crime, according to the NYPD.
Bianey Garcia, an LGBT justice organizer at Make the Road New York, has become a spokeswoman for her community after several attacks in Jackson Heights.
“We are horrified that transgender individuals in our community have suffered yet another hate attack,” Garcia said in a statement. “Transgender immigrant women like me are part of the heart and soul of our Jackson Heights, and we will not stand idly by as our community faces discrimination and violence. We will continue to organize in our communities and send a message that Jackson Heights and New York City must welcome and embrace all of us, and that hate has no place in our neighborhood and out city.”
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparr
