Joshua Debarge Lucas – Photo: Miami-Dade County Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
Joshua Debarge Lucas was arrested and charged with kidnapping after holding a transgender woman at gunpoint at a motel while demanding ransom from her friends and family.
The incident occurred on January 14 at the Saturn Motel in Miami’s MiMo District. Lucas and the victim, a transgender woman who “suffers a speech impediment and other issues” allegedly hooked up while high or under the influence of substances, according to police.
As Lucas began to sober up, he realized that the woman was transgender and lashed out at her.
According to police, the victim texted a friend “call me” just before 5:45 p.m. on Friday. That friend, and another, called the victim on FaceTime and saw her in tears after she picked up, reports Miami ABC affiliate WPLG.
The victim’s friends asked her what was wrong and if she was OK, at which point Lucas appeared in the frame. He allegedly demanded $200 or said he would “hurt” the victim,” according to a police report. He told the friends that the money was for “being disrespected” by the trans woman.
When asked how he was disrespected, police said Lucas “stated that he is a (Black) Hebrew Israelite” — a sect united by anti-Semitic, anti-white, anti-LGBTQ, xenophobic, and misogynistic beliefs. They claim to be the true Israelites of the Bible and that Jews have stolen their identity.
Lucas reportedly said in the FaceTime video that “his religion frowns upon homosexual interactions.” He also said he thought the victim was “just a retarded (woman),” the arrest report states.
A male accomplice was on the call with Lucas and told the victim’s friends where to bring the ransom money. The witnesses told police that they could see one of the men had a gun and attempted to screen-record the call.
The witnesses drove to the Miami police station after hanging up and officers responded to the hotel, where they located the victim, but not Lucas or the other man.
Authorities eventually identified Lucas and tracked him down to his home in Opa-locka, Florida, where they arrested him on Friday, March 1.
While in custody, Lucas allegedly admitted to being upset after finding out that the victim was transgender. He claimed that he had only asked for $20 to repay him for an Uber, claiming the witnesses misheard the amount of money for which he had asked.
“[Lucas] denied holding the victim against their will; however, he stated that following the incident the [accomplice] told him how the incident was like a hostage situation,” the investigating officer wrote in the police report.
Police have not yet identified Lucas’s accomplice. No other arrests have been made at this time.
Lucas’s comments to police appear to invoke some of the elements typically utilized in a “trans panic” defense, though it is unclear at this time how his lawyer will seek to prove his innocence in court.
Florida does not have a law preventing the use of a victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity as justification for a violent act. A bill to ban the so-called “panic” defense failed in the legislature two years ago.
On Saturday, March 2, the day after his arrest, Lucas appeared in court and was ordered held without bail. On Monday, March 5, following a pretrial detention hearing, he was assigned an attorney and submitted a plea of not guilty to the charges against him.
The 34-year-old is currently being held in the Metro West Detention Center and is next scheduled to appear in court on March 22.
A transgender woman swimmer in the United Kingdom recently competed topless at a Masters event, protesting a policy that requires her to compete based on her assigned sex at birth.
Seeking to highlight flaws in the one-size-fits-all ban on transgender competitors, Anne Isabella Coombes, 67, of Reading, chose to wear a men’s swimsuit while competing -- exposing her breasts in the process.
Coombes, a member of the Reading Swimming Club for 30 years, transitioned five years ago, during the COVID-19 pandemic. When public swim meets resumed, she applied to Swim England -- the national governing body of aquatic sports -- asking to compete as a female, reports the Reading Chronicle.
Recently released data from a national survey of transgender and nonbinary individuals reveals that detransitioning is not as common as opponents of transgender rights assert, and that the overwhelming reason for detransitioning is rooted in social stigma and lack of support.
Recently released data from a national survey of transgender and nonbinary individuals finds that detransitioning is far less common than anti-trans activists claim. When it does happen, it’s largely due to external pressures like stigma and lack of support, not regret over transitioning.
A Christian school in the Atlanta suburbs forced a senior to withdraw just weeks before graduation after attending her prom with a transgender boy.
Emily Wright, who until recently attended North Cobb Christian School, went to her senior prom, which was held at an off-campus venue, with a friend who didn't attend the school.
"It was off-property. I did sign a form allowing her to bring a guest," Emily's mother, Tricia Wright, told Atlanta FOX affiliate WAGA-TV, noting that the only limitation on the form was related to the age of the guest.
Ten days after prom, Emily was called into the principal's office.
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