A transgender San Diego-area woman has filed a lawsuit alleging a federal agent tased her in the groin after learning she had previously been a man.
Brooke Fantelli was on federal land in El Centro in Imperial County on October 22, 2011 when she was approached by two rangers with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), including one identified as Ranger J. Peter.
According to the UT San Diego, the suit "contends that Ranger J. Peter’s attitude changed markedly when he learned Fantelli had gone through a gender change."
Raw video taken of a portion of the encounter shows Fantelli being tased once in the abdomen while she is standing with her hands in the air and soon after again in the groin while she is lying on the ground in handcuffs.
The LGBT Weekly wrote about the video and the encounter in 2011:
Back when Brooke Fantelli was known as Rodd Fantelli, she was a well known off-road race driver who won numerous races. She owns Fantelli Racing Products in Ramona, a custom off-road fabrication shop with 20 years of fabrication and racing history - she’s still a well known figure in the off-road racing community.
Fantelli was in the desert with "a long-time friend, a photographer, two models and a preteen who was a child of one of the models," in order to "take photos of the two models for their portfolios." One of Fantelli's trucks was being used as backdrop for the photos.
The BLM rangers asked the group what they were doing, and asked for their identification. Although Fantelli had been in transition at the time for about two years, her California driver's license had her male name and photo; Fantelli had been advised by her physician to live two years as a female before she could seek a new piece of identification from the state.
Fantelli says that after Petter looked over her ID, he began to address her as "sir," "him," "he," and, ultimately, "dude." Later in their encounter, Petter addressed Fantelli as "it," "thing," and "that whatever."
The rangers sat and watched the group for one hour and 17 minutes. During that time, Fantelli says she consumed two-and-a-half beers. Petter alleged he saw her consume four. Fantelli opted to approach the rangers to let them know they were making the models uncomfortable.
With officers from the Federal Park Police and Imperial County Sheriffs Department approaching, the ranger informed Fantelli he was arresting her for public intoxication.
The video begins shortly after.
Fantelli spent the night in jail, but the District Attorney did not file charges against her. Her blood test showed she was not intoxicated.
The UT adds: "Stephen Razo, a BLM spokesman, said Monday that the agency needed to review the lawsuit before making any comment."
Here is the raw footage taken during the incident. There is some foul language from the woman taking the video and others in the vicinity.
