Asa Khalif, a Black Lives Matter activist who serves on the Philadelphia DA's office LGBTQ advisory committee, said conservative media sharing photos of the male suspect in the recent mass shooting wearing women's clothing is committing verbal violence because it is targeting the transgender community.
Khalif said it is wrong for the media to disseminate the photos because Kimbrady Carriker does not identify as transgender.
"I want to discuss very briefly because there is a nasty, violent in terms of verbal, and written words spewed by the conservative press...They have used those pictures to attack trans people and particularly trans people of color, which are extremely vulnerable to violence in our community," Khalif told reporters.
"But the language spewed out by the conservative press is violent and is dangerous and is targeting trans women of color. It's rallying the community to be violent and we're better than that," he added, saying the transgender members of Philadelphia are not killers.
The Philadelphia DA's office initially used they/them pronouns to describe Carriker but then switched to he/him.
At a press conference about the recent mass shooting in Philadelphia, a BLM activist said conservative media is committing verbal "violence" by sharing photos of the shooter wearing women's clothing because he was not really trans.
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) July 5, 2023
"But the language spewed out by the… pic.twitter.com/mLNsWQk8q0
Fox News reports the five deceased victims are Daujan Brown, 15; Joseph Wamah, Jr., 31; Lashyd Merritt, 20; Dymir Stanton, 29; and Ralph Moralis, 59. Children were also injured by the gunfire, including a 2-year-old who was shot four times in the legs. Officials said Carriker used an AR-style rifle to shoot at random people on the street and in cars while wearing a ballistic vest and ski mask.