After an injured teenager said he was beaten up by fellow students in Gloucester, Massachusetts, because he's transgender, a lawyer giving legal counsel to the teenagers being accused is sharing their own narrative of the story.
Jayden Tkaczyk and his mother have already spoken out about the alleged attack, during a party Friday night in the abandoned colonial village of Dogtown. He says that more than two dozen people, including football players, attacked him, using homophobic slurs.
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Police, who have an officer trained in hate crime investigations to look into what happened, have been reviewing video being shared on social media that apparently depicts part of the incident.
First amendment attorney Marc Randazza says that video shows Tkaczyk brought a knife to a party in the woods and that the students — who haven't been publicly identified or come forward — were afraid of being stabbed.
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"This was an armed assailant," Randazza said. "That armed assailant is trying to claim that if they hadn't been [trans] that they would've been left along to stab who they wanted."
Randazza denied the beating was a hate crime — whether or not it qualifies is part of the police investigation.
Tkaczyk, 16, ended up with a broken bone in his face, nerve damage and a head injury.
Asked for a response to Randazza's comments Wednesday, Tkacyzk's lawyer, Craig Rourke, said, "When all the evidence is reviewed and considered we're quite certain that those responsible for the beating of Jayden will be held accountable."
School began at Gloucester High School Wednesday. The district made counseling available to students.
The investigation into what happened was ongoing as of Wednesday.
