Redditor r/Fish_Able shared that on Saturday, July 26, a group of friends — which included a trans woman — were subjected to a “violent, transphobic hate crime” at Barton Springs spillway. A “Good Samaritan” intervened and was “brutally assaulted,” according to the post.
“My friend and her friend were sitting at Barton Springs at dog beach enjoying the water, and were being incessantly hit on by three men,” r/Fish_Able wrote. “A third friend who is a trans woman came and joined my friends. The three men then started becoming aggressive towards the trans woman just for being trans, and generally escalating verbal attacks, accusing the other two girls of being trans, poking at them near their breasts, etc.”
The Reddit post says the “Good Samaritan” who stepped in got his jaw broken and was hit with a rock to his head. The three alleged assailants all got away, at which point the crime was reported to the Austin Police Department. Images of the incident were included in the Reddit post.
APD clarified in a statement that the incident took place around 5:22 p.m. at 2131 William Barton Drive, responding to a caller about an “individual that had been physically assaulted and was on the ground bleeding.”
“When officers arrived on the scene, they located one victim who was being treated by Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services (ATCEMS) and subsequently transported to a local hospital,” APD wrote. “Officers interviewed a witness on scene, who reported that an unknown male began a verbal altercation, which escalated into a physical assault involving multiple individuals. The witness stated that a bystander attempted to intervene and was assaulted by the suspect, resulting in the bystander falling to the ground. The suspect reportedly pushed the witness as well before fleeing the area.”
The case is now being reviewed by APD’s Hate Crime Review Committee and is an open investigation. Anyone with information or photo/video evidence is encouraged to contact APD or Capital Area Crime Stoppers at 512-472-TIPS or austincrimestoppers.org.
A GoFundMe on behalf of the “Good Samaritan” has since been launched, raising $44,000 as of Tuesday, July 29. The GoFundMe says the man — a father with a young son — has sustained “gashes to his head, a bleeding ear, a broken jaw, and a concussion” and will require surgery for the broken jaw. However, it says he is a construction worker without health insurance and is in fear of losing his job if he’s out 2-3 weeks due to the injury.
“Thank you all for your support, kindness, generosity,” the GoFundMe organizer wrote in response to the funds raised. “We don’t have the words to express how much this means to our family. It has been an overwhelming couple of days. We are feeling mentally checked out so thank you, thank you, thank you for helping us during this stressful time.”