Police shot and killed another black man on Wednesday, May 27, two days after the killing of George Floyd by white police officer Derek Shovin. According to the Human Rights Campaign (open in new tab), Tony McDade, a 38-year-old black trans man, was shot and killed by an unnamed police officer in Tallahassee, Florida, becoming at least the 12th American trans person killed in 2020.

Neighbors and other witnesses at the Leon Arms apartment complex strongly dispute the police account of McDade's death; as Rolling Stone magazine (opens in new tab) reports, Tallahassee police have claimed that McDade was a suspect in the stabbing that occurred earlier that day. Claiming that he was, Police Chief Lawrence Revell said that McDade pointed a gun at officers, adding that "the suspect was in possession of a handgun and a bloody knife was found at the scene."

However, Clifford Butler, a resident of Leon Arms' apartment, told local news station WFSU (open in new tab) that the police officer (whose name is not being disclosed, in accordance with Florida law, which classifies police officers involved in a shooting incident as victims and thus guarantees anonymity) opened fire He said he did not warn McDade before firing. Butler said he saw the officer, who witnesses described as white, "jump out of the car, open the door, and just start shooting," and said, "I didn't hear him say, 'Get down, don't move, I'm a cop. I just heard the gunshots."

Another resident, speaking on Facebook Live after the shooting, as reported in Rolling Stone magazine (open in new tab), said, "They said, 'Don't move, motherfucker,' and shot after he stopped moving."

Police Chief Lawrence Revell told WFSU (open in new tab) that the unnamed officers acted "according to their training" and claimed they had no duty to warn McDade before opening fire. Under normal circumstances, and not a detail of this incident, if an officer is confronted by someone pointing a gun at him, there is no time to be yelling 'put the gun down, put the gun down' in such a situation. Tallahassee police are conducting an "internal investigation" into the McDade shooting, he added. [Tori Cooper, community engagement director for the Human Rights Campaign's Transgender Justice Initiative, told Rolling Stone that "the Human Rights Campaign and the transgender and non-binary community as a whole demand accountability and answers for Tony's death and the countless violent deaths of transgender, black, and disproportionately black transgender people. We know that too many of these deaths are being made visible through records and social media, but are being completely ignored. [Black people, LGBTQ people, and especially all LGBTQ people of color are at risk of violence every day in this country," Cooper added (opens in new tab). This must end."

Click here to sign Tony McDade's petition for justice (opens in new tab).

To donate to a fundraiser to support Tony's mother, Wanda McDade, and his family in their fight for justice, click here (opens in new tab).

To donate to the Florida Bail Fund for Protesters, click here (opens in new tab).

To donate to the Freedom Fund, a bail fund for LGBTQIA+ people, click here (opens in new tab).

To split your donation to the National Bail Fund, click here (opens in new tab).

To donate to Black Lives Matter, click here (opens in new tab).

Sign Black Lives Matter's #DefundThePolice petition.

Click here to donate to Movement for Black Lives, a coalition of national black organizations (opens in new tab).