Stonewall Rally To Focus On Deaths In Black Trans Community

WEST VILLAGE, MANHATTAN — The sixth day of protests against police brutality in New York City will include a rally at the Stonewall Inn specifically focused on violence against the black transgender community.

The rally, scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. at the 53 Christopher St. bar, will honor the lives of Nina Pop, a black transgender woman, and Tony McDade, a black transgender man, who were killed earlier this month.

It is one of at least six demonstrations scheduled for Tuesday as protests grip New York City and the nation following the death of Minnesota man George Floyd after a police officer — who has since been charged with murder— knelt on his neck.

Pop, 28, was found stabbed in her apartment in Missouri on May 3, according to the Associated Press. Investigators are looking into the possibility of a hate crime, but a motive has not yet been determined, police have said.

McDade, who was 38, was shot by police in Florida after fatally stabbing another man and pointing a gun at the officer, AP reported. McDade had posted a video on Facebook before stabbing 21-year-old Malik Jackson saying that he was going to get revenge on several men who attacked him the previous day, according to the outlet.

The Stonewall rally will focus on all black trans people murdered by police and transphobic violence, organizers said.

The demonstration, at the home of the 1969 uprisings in response to a police raid on the LGBT bar, comes as Pride Month begins this week.