Hate crime charged in transgender attack

TOWSON, Md., May 17 (UPI) -- A woman accused of assaulting a transgender woman at a Maryland McDonald's is now facing extra hate crime counts, a move praised by activists.

Teonna Brown, 18, was indicted Monday by a Baltimore County grand jury for the April incident in Rosedale, which was captured on video and posted widely, The Baltimore Sun reported.

The hate crime count carries up to 10 years and a $10,000 fine, on top of the potential 25 years for assault Brown already faces.

Chrissy Lee Polis, 23, said Brown attacked her for using the women's restroom.

Sandy Rawls of the Baltimore activist group Trans-United praised the work of police and prosecutors but called the case "a tragedy for everybody involved."

Brown's attorney, Timothy Knepp, said "anything that happened, happened in self-defense." He added that hate crime charges "certainly do not apply."

Another suspect, 15, is being charged as a juvenile.

The video showed Polis being repeatedly kicked and hit in the head, dragged by her hair across the floor and then having an apparent seizure as witnesses laughed.

Brown was charged last year with attacking another woman at the same McDonald's, but the victim dropped the case.