NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A Nashville trans woman is speaking out after she was allegedly assaulted by a moving company employee at a storage facility.
The incident, which was caught on camera and has gone viral on social media, has sparked outrage.
Tyler Flanagan said she was attacked and harassed while simply asking for help at an Extra Space Storage facility off Charlotte Pike.
"We're receiving a lot of death threats. I'm concerned for myself, my friends, my family," Flanagan said.
Flanagan was with a friend at the storage facility when she said they encountered multiple men from Black Tie Moving. She mistakenly thought one of the men was an employee with Extra Space Storage.
"I approached him to see if he would help us and move some items in our facility, and that's whenever he hurled a slur at us and said, 'No,'" Flanagan said.
She said the incident was reported to an actual employee at Extra Space Storage, and she asked for an escort to her car but said that request was denied.
As she and her friend walked outside, she says more homophobic slurs were hurled at them, and they were misgendered.
"We're just telling them we're getting in the car and trying to leave. We don't want any bad situation right now. You're at work. We're at our facility. It doesn't need to be anything it doesn't need to be, " Flanagan said.
Video shows Flanagan going back inside, where a man is seen striking her in the face. She said her hand took most of the impact, and it's now badly bruised.
Metro police say detectives are conducting interviews to make sure they have all the facts about this assault.
When asked if something took place in the parking lot, Flanagan explained.
"There was something that took place in the parking lot, but it's being spun in a direction that's not how it went. As I was getting into the car my back was turned to him. I tossed something out the car and it landed far away from him."
She insists she never would have escalated the situation herself.
"We're just human beings. No matter how you spin it, I didn't deserve to be attacked," Flanagan said.
The owner of Black Tie Moving released a statement confirming the employee has been terminated, saying in part: "We recognize the lasting harm acts like this can inflict, and we are truly sorry."
Extra Space Storage also released a statement:
We are disturbed that this act of violence occurred on our property. While the individual involved is not affiliated with our company, we are cooperating fully with law enforcement in their investigation. We have reached out to support the customer affected by this incident.”
Our employee immediately called 911 from behind the desk where she felt she could safety make that call, and we turned over our footage and any evidence immediately (which can be seen in the footage online as our employee is showing the officer). We will continue to support the law enforcement investigation.
This story was reported on-air by Aaron Cantrell and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
Happy Birthday to the YMCA of Middle TN. They just celebrated their 150th anniversary! A lot has changed with the Y over the years. I have personally seen some of that firsthand when I was a long-time board member at the Northwest Family Y and part of their Black Achievers Program. Forrest Sanders has a look back.
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