Indiana: Transgender woman shot in face by Christian extremist.

A Christian extremist has been arrested in Indiana on attempted murder and other charges related to shooting a transgender woman in the face earlier this month.

According to reports, a 55-year-old Indiana transgender woman was shot in the face by a Christian extremist in what is being described as a hate crime. The suspect, Gerald Duane Lewis, 26, is accused of shooting 55-year-old Crystal Raquel Cash in the jaw at her place of business after asking to use her bathroom.

Cash is unable to speak as the result of a broken jaw, but claims in written notes that the shooter attacked her because she is transgender.

According to news reports, Lewis shouted homophobic slurs during the assault.

Lewis claims membership in Israel United in Christ, which the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has identified as a Christian hate group.

The SPLC reports that Israel United in Christ is a black separatist church and a designated hate group, noting:

Black Hebrew Israelites, a sub-sect within the black separatist movement, believe that African Americans are the real Jews, the Biblical chosen people of God. They oppose integration and interracial marriage and are virulently anti-Semitic, anti-white and anti-LGBT – frequently expressing those views in public locations.

A Tumblr account connected with the Israel United in Christ church denounces interracial marriage and homosexuality in numerous images and videos. The following is an excerpt from a statement on that account:

Israel United in Christ, inc. was founded in 2003. Our goal is to change the hearts and minds of our people. Blacks and Hispanics must learn the truth that they are the Biblical 12 tribes of the nation of Israel. Disobedience to God’s laws have been the root of all our troubles.

Following the shooting, in an attempt at damage control the leader of the hate church posted a statement to the group’s website denying that Lewis was still connected with the organization.

Many observers are concerned about the local media’s coverage of the crime. The Advocate reports the coverage by local media has engaged in entirely unnecessary victim-blaming by mentioning the possibility that Cash was running a massage parlor and implying that she was a sex worker. Cash and her relatives deny these claims.

On a related note, The Advocate also reports 2016 has been an extremely violent year for transgender people. To date, at least 15 trans people are known to have been murdered this year, the vast majority being trans women of color. The same week that Cash was attacked, another trans woman, Deeniquia Dodds, died as a result of wounds she sustained during an attack July 4.

Lewis has been charged with attempted murder, robbery, and carrying a handgun without a license. However, he does not face a hate-crime charge because Indiana is one of the few states that has no hate-crimes law.

Also worth noting, if Lewis had claimed allegiance to Islam instead of Christianity, this crime would have received a great deal more attention in local and national media.