Nashville DA, police under scrutiny for not filing charges after transgender woman was attacked

LGBTQ leaders in Nashville are asking for the Davidson County District Attorney to prosecute a man who struck a transgender woman in the lobby of a Nashville business. (Photo: Getty Images(

The Davidson County District Attorney’s Office is facing scrutiny for not filing charges after a man struck a transgender woman in the head at a Nashville business in May.

Surveillance footage from the office of Extra Space Storage on Charlotte Pike shows 35-year-old Jeremiah Hendricks approaching 27-year-old Tyler Flanagan on May 30 and striking her, causing her sunglasses to fly off of her face.

In a statement issued June 9, the Metro Nashville Police Department wrote that “after discussion with the District Attorney’s Office, the MNPD is not placing any charges.”

The Metro Nashville Council’s LGBTQ Caucus is now calling for the district attorney to complete a “more thorough analysis” of the case, including whether the case falls under Tennessee’s hate crime law.

MNPD spokesperson Don Aaron said the department’s Specialized Investigations Division, which looks into hate crimes, reviewed the footage.

District Attorney General Glenn Funk will review the case early next week upon returning from vacation, according to the LGBTQ Caucus. In the meantime, the caucus stated MNPD must “recall and restate its press release to reflect the DA’s new review and intended actions.”

The police statement — details of which Flanagan and her attorney dispute — provides a brief description of the altercation and notes that both parties can choose to privately prosecute the case.

Flanagan and a friend reported that former Black Tie Moving employee Hendricks and his coworkers used transphobic and homophobic slurs toward them before the physical attack, according to police.

Hendricks, who is Black, and his coworkers accused Flanagan and her friend of using “racially insulting language,” according to the MNPD statement. Hendricks also said Flanagan threw a milkshake toward him. Surveillance footage shows Flanagan tossing something out of the car, but it’s not clear whether Hendricks, who was several feet behind the vehicle, was hit by the cup.

Attempts to reach Hendricks for comment were unsuccessful.

Civil Rights attorney Abby Rubenfeld, known for filing the lawsuit that led to Tennessee’s role in the U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage in the United States, is representing Flanagan. Rubenfeld said the claim that Flanagan and her friend used racial names toward Hendricks is “false and unsupported.” She also said the police description of Hendricks striking Flanagan with an “open hand” is incorrect.

“An unsupported allegation of a drink being thrown and liquid perhaps spilling on an individual is not in any way comparable to a physical assault, a brutal punch to the head of an unsuspecting, vulnerable person, which is what happened here and is documented on video,” Rubenfeld stated.

The LGBTQ Caucus also expressed concern at the “impression that throwing a milkshake at someone is the equivalent of a physical assault.”

How the process works

District attorneys “have an obligation to look into (a) case to see if a conviction can be obtained,” but they also have authority to screen cases before they get to court to determine which cases are the best use of the office’s scarce resources, said Nashville criminal defense attorney David Raybin, speaking generally about the criminal justice system as an attorney who is not representing either party in the case.

“All criminal cases are brought in the name of the state … and the district attorney is the one who brings the charges under the law,” Raybin said. “The DA has discretion to charge someone or not, even though the victim of an alleged assault may want to bring charges.”

Davidson County is one of many that screen cases to avoid overwhelming the courts with cases that may lack sufficient evidence or have legitimate defenses that could impact the likelihood of a conviction, he said. The parties in an assault case can also choose to file a civil lawsuit.

Aaron said neither Flanagan nor Hendricks has filed charges independently. 

Rubenfeld said Flanagan is “waiting for the DA to bring charges, as they should when there is an obvious, documented, unprovoked assault captured on video.”

In a post on Instagram, Flanagan said the attack was “intentional and came from hate.”

“This is the first time ever in Nashville I’ve ever felt so unsafe, terrified for my safety in that moment a grown man twice my size fully trying to beat me,” she wrote.

Black Tie Moving fired Hendricks after reviewing the incident, which it described in a statement as “deeply troubling and entirely unacceptable.”