Drop Charges Against Trans Woman Charged with Murder for Self-Defense

When CeCe McDonald, a young, African-American trans woman, walked with her friends past a Minneapolis bar, a group of people began hurling racist, homophobic, and transphobic slurs. When CeCe confronted the group and told them that she would not tolerate hate speech, she was physically assaulted. One person smashed a glass into CeCe's face, puncturing her cheek and lacerating her salivary gland.

The fight that ensued involved multiple people and ended with CeCe on the ground in a pool of her own blood, and one of her attackers--Dean Schmitz--was dead. When police arrived, only CeCe was arrested. Police detained her, withheld medical treatment, and forced her to sign a confession, which she recanted shortly afterward.

Now, prosecutor Michael Freeman, who has dropped charges against three people who accidentally killed people while fighting in self-defense, is pushing CeCe to plead guilty and persuaded the court to set her bail at an outrageous $500,000. While CeCe remains in jail, she has been unable to find or afford a trans-friendly lawyer and has been placed in solitary "for her own protection" because she is trans.

Act now to tell Michael Freeman to drop the charges against CeCe McDonald, who has been singled out for prosecution in this attack.