At least three of 26 people eulogized by President Joe Biden to celebrate Transgender Remembrance Day died while committing a crime or tangling with law enforcement, The Federalist reported.
Biden on Monday honored 26 transgender Americans to pay tribute to trans people who lost their lives this year to violence.
"Today, on Transgender Day of Remembrance we are reminded that there is more to do [to] meet that promise, as we grieve the 26 transgender Americans whose lives were taken this year," Biden said in a statement.
"While each one of these deaths is a tragedy — the true toll of those victimized is likely even higher, with the majority of those targeted being women of color."
The White House suggested the 26 victims suffered "hate" crime deaths linked to their gender identity, and some family members of the deceased said the deaths were the result of "targeted shootings."
However, The Federalist reported that none of family members' accounts, or the reports on the deaths "produced a direct link between the fatal violence and the transphobia the White House claims has gripped the nation."
The outlet said several of the 26 people died in hit-and-runs, shootings, and domestic violence such as that seen in many cities. And at least three were killed while committing acts of violence.
Manuel "Tortuguita" Teran, 26, was shot by officers after he fired first during a January raid in Georgia. Teran was one of several "forest defenders" who tried to stop development of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.
A state trooper was seriously injured when Teran blasted four pepper-ball rounds through his 9 mm pistol.
In October, a Georgia district attorney ruled that officers who shot Teran would not face criminal charges because "the use of lethal [deadly] force by the Georgia State Patrol was objectively reasonable under the circumstances of this case," ABC News reported.
Then there's Banko Brown, 24, who was shot and killed by a security guard at a San Francisco Walgreens in April after allegedly shoplifting.
Brown "repeatedly threatened to stab" the guard who fired the fatal shot, according to the guard.
The guard eventually was fined for "carrying a concealed firearm and for uniform violations" but was not criminally charged, KTVU reported.
DéVonnie J'Rae Johnson, 28, was shot and killed by a security guard in August after he walked into a Los Angeles store wielding a fire extinguisher and screwdriver.
The guard, who immediately rendered first aid after firing at Johnson, faced no charges.
The White House list omitted Audrey Hale, a woman identifying as trans who shot and killed three children and three staff at a Christian grade school in Nashville, Tennessee, in March. Hale was killed by police.
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Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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