Reginald Anthony Klaiber is facing hate crime charges after stabbing a 15-year-old transgender girl in the back while riding the Washington, D.C., Metro, according to BuzzFeed.
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The girl and her friends were riding the Metro’s Green Line on Wednesday when they were approached by Klaiber around 4:30 p.m.
“He came to my friend and said you have red hair. My friend said OK, and then he said, ‘Oh, you’re a man!’” Jae-la White, a friend of the victim, told the Washington Blade.
Jae-La told the Blade that the victim proceeded to stand by the train’s door and asked Klaiber to leave her alone. Klaiber then told the victim that “I will stab you up and blow your brains out,” said Jae-La.
After making threats, Klaiber, 24, went on to sexually harass the victim by inappropriately touching and hugging her.
One of the teen’s friends sprayed pepper spray in Klaiber’s eye to stop the attack. However, once the train stopped, Klaiber continued to follow the teens. Jae-La told the Blade that Klaiber chased the teens “with the knife upstairs and through the station.”
The victim is in stable condition after being taken to a local hospital, the Blade reports. No one else was hurt during the attack, according to the newspaper.
NBC Washington notes that Klaiber, who has been charged with assault with a deadly weapon, is no stranger to criminal behavior—he has a history of assault and resisting arrest. If it is deemed that this was a crime motivated by hate and/or bias, Klaiber faces a one-and-a-half-time enhancement of his sentence under D.C. law.
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