Armstrong’s story

Armstrong recalled the whole sequence of events to the SGN. Her story began at the Renton Transit Center, which Armstrong frequents. “I take the bus at least 10 times a week just for work,” she said, “and then for whatever other transportation needs I have. I’ve been down there thousands of times.”

But on that day, Armstrong noticed a group of high school boys hanging around, harassing passersby. “They were picking on literally everybody,” adding, “Everybody who was coming up, they were insulting them, harassing them, and you could tell that they were just trying to pick a reaction out of people.”

Armstrong then decided to confront the teenagers about their inappropriate behavior, reportedly saying, “Hey, don’t you kids have anything better to do?,” which was not received well by the group, who then yelled obscenities as well as transphobic and homophobic slurs, according to Armstrong. After leaving the scene to spend time at a nearby bar, Armstrong then returned to her bus stop, where the teenagers were waiting for her. She felt threatened by this, explaining, “I dug in my bag real quick and pulled out my pepper spray. And a couple of them ran up on me, and I ran across the street to try and get away from them, because I didn’t even have the can ready to spray.”

She said the group of teenagers at first were taunting her by charging her closely, within a few feet, and then backed away, laughing, but that quickly changed. “When one of them got really close, I sprayed it a little bit,” she said. “And as soon as I sprayed it and the spray hit him, he said, ‘Get that faggot!’”

Fearing for her life, Armstrong recalled running away frantically for about a block before tripping. “And when I fell down, they ran up and kicked me in the ribs and then just started beating me, all four of them,” she said. 

As for why she thought they decided to target her, she reflected then said, “I was just trying to sort of stand up for everybody else at the bus station, just because they were obviously deliberately harassing people. And yeah, they took it out on me.” 

The four boys made it clear their attack was motivated by hate, she said. “When they were stomping on me and punching me, they were like, they were, you know, yelling slurs as they were hitting me… It was 100% a hate crime.” 

She reported trying her best to fight back, since she has a background in martial arts. “I was doing everything I could to get away, but they started choking me. Basically, one of them grabbed me around the throat and fell over on his back. So he was laying on his back on the ground, and I was laying on his chest as he was choking me, and his friends were stomping me while he was choking me, and that is when I went unconscious.

“At the end when I started to pass out, I was 100% certain that they were ending my life. So it was pretty scary, and I was really grateful to wake up when I came to.”

Now conscious, she then ran across the parking lot to a nearby bar where a security guard then called 911 for her. 

Injuries

Armstrong shared the full extent of the bodily harm she received from the assault. “They broke my nasal septum. They broke the bridge of my nose. They broke, like, my whole nose to a pulp. They broke my orbital bone above my right eye and my occipital bone underneath my right eye. [I have] minor facial fractures in my forehead and in the bone above my eye, what makes up your whole eyebrow bone.”

Because Armstrong was also nine months post-op from facial feminization surgery (FFS) and not yet fully healed, she believes that might have exacerbated her injuries. She expressed sadness that after all the time and money invested in getting FFS, it had been ruined by the injuries she received.

But the injury that caused her the most pain during the interview was her ribs. “Once they started kicking me in the ribs and I started trying to cover up my face, they were just stomping on my back,” she said. “And so my ribs are all bruised and damaged, and it’s hard to take a breath in or find a comfy place to lie down, and I keep getting muscle spasms that constrict on the damaged ribs.”

She mentioned that, although surgery won’t be needed for her ribs, “the doctor said it was pretty likely that I was going to need to get a metal plate above right eye. And then full reconstruction of my nose for sure. They flattened my nose, like, completely.”

Armstrong said her health insurance will be able to cover surgery, while out-of-pocket costs will most likely be covered by the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office violent crimes compensation fund; she also mentioned how King County will also be assigning her a violent crimes coordinator to help manage the whole process, remarking that “they’ve been really nice so far.”

A GoFundMe was also established to help Armstrong pay for daily living expenses while she waits for her claim to cover the costs of her medical leave. She emphasized how the stress of having a wife and child at home and no way of covering rent and bills was her primary concern the next day. 

“I woke up the morning after, with no idea what I was going to do,” she said. “And I just made the GoFundMe on a whim, and within like three hours, all my problems were solved.” She expressed strong gratitude for the people who’ve contributed so far: “I can’t even begin to say how much better I feel about it.”

She also expressed gratitude for Renton community members who’ve reached out. She mentioned the assistant principal of Renton High School, Rashaad Powell, who had recently given her flowers and a personal apology with a card signed by the school’s administrative staff.

The Renton High School Gay Straight Alliance GSA made a statement to its community on Sept. 18 saying, "We know this is a tough time for our community, and it's okay to feel the weight of it. Please remember you don't have to go through it alone. Renton High always supported kindness, respect, and inclusivity. Our Gay-Straight Alliance is here for everyone LGBTQ+ students, allies, or anyone who just needs a safe space to talk or be heard." 

As for the hopes she has for the teenagers who assaulted her, she said, “I hope that they learn a lesson from it. I hope that in thinking about it, their own behavior is so scary to them that they never consider doing this to somebody else again.”

She is optimistic about their potential for change: “People can absolutely change. And I’m a firm believer in that, and I usually think it’s some type of big life event is the catalyst for that change. And so hopefully they take this and use it to motivate themselves toward something better.”

City Councilmember Carmen Rivera

The SGN also reached out to Renton City Councilmember Carmen Rivera to comment on Armstrong’s situation and the broader issue of LGBTQIA+ community safety in her district. As public safety chair of Renton City Council, she said, “We have been seeing an uptick in hateful rhetoric, which is why I ran for office.”
 
Rivera told the SGN she has witnessed hateful attacks like what had happened to Armstrong firsthand as a resident born and raised in Renton. Also, as member of the Renton Equity Commission, she reported that the board is currently seeking to help fundraise for Armstrong’s recovery.  

Rivera expressed her frustration with politicians who are contributing to an increasingly hostile climate toward Transgender people. “When it comes to hate toward the Trans community, people on both sides of the aisle are feeding into the rhetoric,” she said. She called on leaders to instead seek solutions that will end the cycle of violence.  

Regarding hate crimes against LGBTQ+ people in Renton in the past, she said, “I know of instances of violence against the LGBTQ+ community and other communities. It plagues Renton like it plagues any city.” 

And as a Queer, Latina politician, Rivera emphasized the work she’s done while in office to combat the issue. “Around April or May, we referred to increase LGBTQ+ and immigrant protections [to the Washington State Legislature] during the uptick of fascism by the federal government,” she said. 

Even if local municipalities are only able to release a public statement of support, to Rivera, it is important that communities stand firm for the safety of their LGBTQIA+ citizens. She also stated that Armstrong’s story and this issue would be a major point of focus during her next meeting with Renton Mayor Armondo Pavone.

Rivera also commented on the teenage boys who committed the assault. “I worked in a juvenile prison for several years,” she said. “They clearly have learned some very toxic masculinity kind of stuff.” Having administered gender justice training to juvenile offenders, she stressed the importance of seeing and learning from strong woman like herself, and how that can help to humanize and shift young boys’ and men’s perspectives.

She also expressed concern that the Green Hill School facility where the teenagers will most likely be sent has unfortunately currently been experiencing overcrowding. Worried they may not be able to get the services they need, Rivera said, “I hope they can receive to treatment they need to teach them why this is wrong.”

In Rivera’s final thoughts, she pointed to the bigger picture. “The Trans community is very much a red herring, to distract from the affordability crisis, the environment crisis, and the housing crisis. It is a lot easier to get angry about a community you know nothing about.”

Although Rivera made it a point to acknowledge the harm other police departments have caused to LGBTQIA+ communities, like with the Seattle Police Department’s response to the Mayday USA protests, she emphasized, in contrast, the great job Renton’s police department has done handling Armstrong’s case and building a trusting relationship with the community. 
“I encourage members of the community to report events like these to the Renton Police Department,” she stated.


Please consider supporting Nikki Armstrong at https://www.gofundme.com/f/nikkis-recovery-from-being-victim-of-a-hate-crime

This is an ongoing news story, return back to this article for more updates.

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