LA cops slam onlookers who mocked three transgender women as they were attacked and robbed

Police in Los Angeles slammed ‘callous’ onlookers who mocked three transgender women as they were attacked and robbed on Hollywood Boulevard, streaming it all live on social media.  

The sickening attack was captured in a disturbing viral video just after 2am on Monday morning showing the women crying for help while bystanders laughed and tormented them.   

Eden Estrada, Joslyn Allen and Jaslene Busanet, all social media influencers, say they were waiting for an Uber when a man approached them and stole Eden’s phone. He later chased them down again and struck Busanet in the head. 

Cops arrested Carlton Callway, 29, Thursday on a charge of assault with a hate crime while 42-year-old Willie Walker was picked up for extortion on Wednesday in relation to the attack.

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Their specific crimes were not explained and it is unclear where they are seen in the video but Callway has been named as the main suspect with bail set at $17,000. 

NBC News reports that Walker had been released Friday and Allen claimed on her Instagram account that he was let out on $0 bail.  

Police are still looking for Davion Williams, 22, in relation to the hate crime. NBC News reports that Williams had livestreamed the attack to social media while it was happening. 

Allen claims that Williams robbed them and was the man see throwing a scooter at one of the women. She also named some of those she believes filmed the scene on her social media accounts.   

‘I want to express to the entire transgender community that these kind of instances with hate and violence have no place in Los Angeles,’ said LAPD chief Michael Moore following the arrests, ‘and that the LAPD stands fully in support of your rights, your dignity and respect to each of you as individuals. 

‘We will not allow this to occur here.’ 

Los Angeles police deputy chief Justin Eisenberg said at a news conference Thursday that the worst part of the attack was that witnesses watched it happened and even livestreamed it instead of helping the women. 

‘What was particularly callous about these crimes was the actions of the onlookers,’ he said. 

According to the LAPD press release, the women were approached by the main suspect, now thought to be Callway, and one of their phones was stolen. 

After the women attempted to get the phone back, a crowd of bystanders converged around them and the frightening situation took a more violent turn. 

According to the women, the suspect had been harassing them earlier in the night, approaching them inside of a store and offering to buy them some items, but suddenly refusing to pay at the checkout. 

They say the crowd urged their attacker on, even shouting transphobic slurs and throwing rocks at them as the violent scene unfolded. 

The women say they attempted to run away from the scene but were chased down by the suspect and at least two other men.

In the footage, when the suspect catches up to them, he strikes Busanet in the head, knocking her to the ground and stealing her purse.

Allen then hands her bag to a bystander to hold while she attempts to chase the suspect down. Allen, who is reportedly recovering from hip surgery, is heard being mocked by the men she handed the bag to, who laugh ‘why is she running like that.’

Allen catches up to the suspect, who turns around and appears to throw an object toward her face, knocking her to the ground in the middle of the road.

The bystanders in possession of her bag then run away with it laughing, as Allen lay helpless on the floor.

The man she handed the bag to is then seen lifting up a nearby scooter above his head and throwing it towards the direction of Eden, narrowly missing her.

The suspect then reportedly re-emerged on the scene with a metal bar and demanded that Allen hand him her shoes and bracelet. Allen say she complied out of fear, when the man then grabbed her by the hand and made her walk down the street with him.

‘He held a crow bar to my face and threatened to kill me unless I stripped my shoes off and gave him my jewelry and all my processions,’ Allen wrote on Instagram.

‘He said if i was trans he would kill me,’ she continued. ‘He then forced me to hold his hand while he looks for my friends to kill them for being trans.’

‘Meanwhile men and WOMEN screaming that I’m a man and telling him to beat me.’ 

The footage then cuts to Eden and Busanet who are seen pleading with one of the bystanders to give Eden’s phone back, after he claimed to be in possession of it.

The man, thought to be the third suspect Walker, demands he pay her $80 to get the device back, though it’s unclear if he actually had it.

While the negotiations continue, the suspect is seen running into frame, and striking Busanet over the head with a bottle, knocking her unconscious.

The suspect then flees the scene, as bystanders laugh at Busanet, joking that she is ‘dead on the floor’, while laughing off Eden’s desperate cries to call 911.

Amid the commotion, a police car blaring sirens arrives on scene. The vehicle slows down momentarily before driving away. 

In the meantime, the bystanders are seen re-watching the moment Busanet was struck in the head, celebrating the fact they’d caught the attack on camera.

Allen is then seen returning to the scene, and screams at the bystanders for not helping them while Busanet can be heard crying on the ground, clutching the back of her head.

Allen says members of the gathered crowd shouted anti-transgender slurs at her. The crowd watched on for more than five minutes before one of the women was able to call an ambulance.

‘We thought we were going to die because the guy had left and he’s going to come back, he has a crowbar,’ Eden said.

After the incident, Eden posted a series of clips to her Instagram story, said to have been captured by Instagram user @stevofilms, who broadcasted the attack live, and posted it to his page.

‘He MOCKED US, sexualized us and instigated the ENTIRE attack,’ Eden said.

The Instagram for Steveofilms is currently set to private. He couldn’t be reached for comment.

Allen posted further videos to Instagram Friday that show the comments being made by bystanders as they watched them. 

‘I want to say a heartfelt thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the love and support we have received in the past 3 days. When this event happened, all I could think about was how grateful I am to be alive,’ she wrote. 

‘I never knew that this would be seen by millions of people. 

‘It has really uplifted me in the darkest time of my life. Without all of your help, and the help of the LAPD, we would have never been able to make this amount of progress this fast. 

‘Trans lives matter. I don’t care who you are or where you come from but you matter.’ 

Though multiple people were implicated in the attack LA Police initially said they are only seeking one man as a suspect in the case.

It’s unclear if any of the bystanders shown in the footage knew him.

Since the attack, protests have taken place to support the women and a GoFundMe has been established to assist with their legal fees. 

It has so far raised more than $37,000.  

NBC reports that 150 people turned out to demonstrate on Friday night. 

LAPD Chief Moore also said the department is also investigating why the police car shown in the video didn’t stop to assist the women. 

Moore said he planned to find out what call the officer was responding to, whether the officer realized what was happening to the women as he passed by, whether the officer alerted dispatch to the incident and ‘whether or not we took appropriate action.’

He said the investigation will include a review of body-worn camera footage to determine whether officers followed procedures. 

The attack comes amid rising concerns from LGBTQ right advocates who have accused US law enforcement of not doing enough when it comes to crimes involving transgender victims.

So far this year, at least 26 transgender or non-conforming individuals have been killed, with women of color deemed the most vulnerable group.

The Human Rights Campaign, reported 25 killings in 2019 and 29 in 2018, the most it had recorded in a year. 

The investigation is still ongoing and anyone with information on this incident should call L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or visit lacrimestoppers.org.