Los Angeles police have arrested two men and continue to search for a third suspect in the robbery and attack against three transgender women, Eden the Doll, Joslyn Flawless, and Jaslene White Rose, in Hollywood on Monday.
The two men in custody are Willie Walker, 42, who was arrested Wednesday on an extortion charge and Carlton Callway, 29, arrested Thursday on a robbery charge with a “hate crime enhancement.”
Police are still looking for the third man, 22-year-old Davion Williams. Williams is suspected of assaulting the victims with a deadly weapon.
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The Los Angeles police said in a statement that one of the men was wielding a metal bar when he approached one victim and demanded her shoes and bracelet.
After robbing and assaulting the first victim, the man attacked another victim, knocking her to the ground after attacking her with a bottle, and all the while making derogatory remarks about her gender identity.
“We believe these crimes were motivated by hate because the victims were transgender women and derogatory remarks were made by the suspect about the victims,” said Justin Eisenberg, Los Angeles Police Department deputy chief.
The victims have large followings on social media. Eden Estrada is know as Eden the Doll has an Instagram following of over 400,000. Joslyn Allen is known as Joslyn Flawless and has over 75,000 followers. Jaslene Busanet is known as Jaslene White Rose and has over 114,000 followers on Instagram.
“It was absolutely the worst moment of my life,” Estrada told KCLA. “I know that I’m so privileged because I’m a YouTuber and because people know who I am, but this happens all the time to women like me who aren’t on social media. We need this to stop.”
According to police, a portion of the attack was caught on video by onlookers and then shared on social media. But the onlookers and passersby failed to assist the women.
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“What was particularly callous about these crimes were the actions of the onlookers,” Eisenberg said. “They recorded and appear to celebrate the assaults rather than render aid and assist the victims.”
Los Angeles City Councilman Mitch O’Farrell expressed his anger in a Twitter post. “The video of three transgender women of color being attacked, chased, robbed and jeered at by a hostile crowd of cisgender men and women has me infuriated and determined to see that all perpetrators are brought to justice,” O’Farrell wrote.
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