For Chad Sanford, a 14-year-old trans kid from Boward County, Florida, the notion of being terrorized every day at school has become all too familiar. Last year, Chad was the victim of an on-campus attack that made national headlines. This time around, Chad's attackers outdid themselves when they orchestrated a cruel plan to lure the 7th grader from his home by making him think that they wanted to hang out with him at a nearby playground. So, Chad agreed to walk with the group of boys to the park, but shortly after they arrived, the boys turned on Chad and beat him unmercifully.
"Don't come around here with that gay sh*t!" Shouted one of Chad's attackers as they pummelled him with a series of kicks and punches.
The vicious incident was captured on camera, and it has since led to the arrest of two assailants by the Boward County deputies.
“Two juveniles were arrested for simple battery and public orders crime prejudice,” public information officer Claudinne Caro wrote in a statement. “The juveniles were transported to the Juvenile Assessment Center.”
The brutal attack marks the second time Chad was jumped on camera in the past year and a half. As a result, the trans teen has become a sympathetic figure on a national scale that many people have rallied behind, including Tina Knowles and a civil rights attorney named Melba Pearson, who has stated her desire for Chad's attackers to receive additional hate crime charges.
“I think that they need counseling,” Pearson said. “I think that they need to be held accountable, whether it be [through] community service, other aspects, but they need to learn that this behavior is wrong because they were taught this somehow. They didn’t just wake up one day and decide to attack someone because they’re transgender.”
While some of the aforementioned attackers are currently behind bars, not all of them have been brought to justice. An investigation into this matter is still ongoing. Although this may seem like a step in the right direction for some, Chad's grandmother just wants this vicious cycle to stop so that she doesn't have to fear for his life every time he steps outside of their home.
“Just let Chad be Chad,” pleaded the victim's grandmother. “Guys was spitting on him on the bus and treating him any kind of way because of his transgender and life of what he want to be. I’m just frustrated.”
Scroll up to watch the attack, but be warned that it contains sensitive material.
Source: Yahoo! News
