A “Trans Day of Vengeance” Saturday protest in Washington D.C. has been cancelled as event organizers allege threats towards protesters risked their safety.
The planned protest was to take place in front of the capital’s Supreme Court of the United States.
“This action will not be taking place Saturday due to a credible threat to life and safety,” read a statement posted on Twitter by the organizers Our Rights DC.
“The safety of our trans community is first priority. This threat is the direct result of the flood of raw hatred directed toward the trans community after the Tennessee shooting.”
Coincidentally, Friday is ‘Trans Day of Visibility’ and a few marches remain planned as scheduled.
On Monday, a 28 year old transgender male named Audrey Hale shot up a Christian school and killed 6 people, including three children.
Subsequently, critics caught wind of the Saturday protest and drew comparisons to Monday’s tragedy.
Our Rights DC stated the protest was intended to be non-violent.
“Individuals who had nothing to with that heinous act have been subjected to highly serious threats and blamed only because of their gender identity. This is one of the steps in genocide, and we will continue our efforts to protect trans lives,” the group said.
Earlier in the week, Twitter censored users who shared the event flier because the word “vengeance” violated Twitter’s policy for inciting violence.
Questions surrounding the transgender shooter’s motive remain unknown but many suspect it was a hate crime against Christians.
Nashville police confirmed the Christian school was targeted. Furthermore, police said the killer left a “Manifesto,” had maps of the school, as well as a diagnosed emotional disorder.
Police further said they won’t release the manifesto to the public until at least after the investigation is complete.
Some LGBT groups have attempted to ensure the manifesto never gets released to the public.
On Thursday, CBS banned staff from using the word “transgender” when describing the school shooting by the transgender individual.
