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Police investigate whether attack at Dearborn bar is hate crime

Posted at 2:12 PM, Jul 29, 2016
and last updated 2016-07-29 14:12:29-04

DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — Police are investigating whether a Detroit-area transgender woman was the victim of a hate crime after a bar patron made derogatory remarks about her before she was attacked.

Dearborn police responded about 1:50 a.m. Wednesday and say the woman told them she was stabbed in the back and struck in the face with a bottle outside the bar. Police say those involved argued and had been removed from the bar.

Police say the woman was treated at a hospital and released.

In a video on Facebook, a person who identifies herself as Courtney Purvis says she was attacked because she’s transgender. Purvis told WJBK-TV several women were involved.

Lt. Gary Mann tells The Detroit News the investigation includes whether it was a hate crime and is in the “preliminary stages.”