Police Confirm Report Of Transgender Activist’s Attack on ‘Bathroom Bill’ Opponent

Printed from: https://newbostonpost.com/2017/05/11/police-confirm-report-of-transgender-activists-attack-on-bathroom-bill-opponent/

(Photo courtesy of William Gillmeister) (Photo courtesy of William Gillmeister)

NEWTON — A recently released police report corroborates the story relayed to New Boston Post regarding the theft of campaign signs and a spitting episode, an incident that police say occurred after an upset activist crashed a private event where members of the ballot movement to overturn the state’s so-called “bathroom bill” law were meeting.

The incident occurred on Sunday April 30 at a Thai restaurant on Walnut Street, where William Gillmeister, treasurer of the Keep MA Safe coalition, claimed “a man dressed as a woman” spit on him after being confronted over the theft of signs.

“The party was described as wearing a floral dress, black shoes and glasses,” the report noted.

Adding to the confusion, according to the incident report, was the fact that the alleged perpetrator provided police with her assumed name and not her birth name.

“The party identified themselves as Darcy Rohan but when queried through dispatch came back with negative results,” the report stated. “When asked for an explanation, the party stated that their birth name was David.”

Police indicated that Rohan “was irate and stated that the signs were taken because of disagreeing beliefs.”

“Rohan further stated that the signs had been thrown in a dumpster but was unsure of the location,” the report added. “Rohan admitted to spitting on Gillmeister.”

Police charged Rohan with assault and battery and theft of property valued at less than $250.

Reached by telephone Thursday morning and asked if she wanted to tell her side of the story, a woman who identified herself as Rohan said she only wanted to make one statement.

“One in 15 trans people will die of murder,” she said, citing a claimed statistic. “This isn’t about bathrooms. It doesn’t matter if some gaslighting creep says it is. Bigots comparing us to sex predators do not get to set the terms of the discussion. This is not about bathrooms. This is about our lives.”

The journalism fact-checking organization PolitiFact has deemed such statistics as “both unsupported and implausible.”

Last October Keep MA Safe announced it had managed to collect more than 50,000 signatures supporting efforts to “repeal the transgender ‘bathroom and locker room law’” that legislators passed last summer.

The group needed to submit at least 35,000 certified voter signatures to the state in order for repeal efforts to advance and appear on the 2018 ballot.

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