The HRC's - and mainstream media's - reporting on the death of Tony McDade, a TIF, is similarly disingenuous as in the other cases I cited. On its website, HRC says only this:

Tony McDade, a Black transgender man, was killed in Tallhassee, Florida, on May 27. His friends and family shared how he was an energetic, giving person with a big heart.

What the HRC and most of the press reports leave out is that McDade, a convicted felon with history of violence (assault, domestic battery, gun theft and illegal possession, and armed robbery) who unfortunately suffered from major mental health problems (bipolar and schizophrenia), was killed by police after McDade stabbed to death 21-year-old Malik Jackson.

Malik Jackson was the son of Jennifer Jackson, who years ago had been romantically involved with McDade before McDade went trans. Jackson's family says McDade had been stalking and menacing Jennifer since McDade was released from prison after 10 years in January.

The day before McDade killed Malik Jackson and McDade was killed by police, McDade is reported to have broken into Jennifer Jackson's home after two days of sending her text messages professing to love her and threatening to kill her and others (including McDade's own mother and self). Malik Jackson, reportedly in the driveway at the time, then apparently joined with four other guys and beat up McDade.

Exactly what happened isn't clear. Jennifer Jackson's sister, Abigail spoke to WFSU and gave a confusing report that the station didn't do much to clear up when they recounted it. Excerpts:

“I will kill for you and you. You said you’d never leave…," Abigail Jackson is reading from text messages sent by Tony McDade to her sister, Jennifer.

Jennifer is the mother of Malik Jackson, the 21-year-old McDade stabbed and killed immediately before being shot to death by police.

"Malik was a special kid," says Abigail. "Malik loved to fish, dance, listen to music. He worked day in, and day out. He was just a good kid."

A common narrative has been that McDade was killed because of his gender identity. There’s been little mention of the fact he killed Malik before being shot and killed by police and some argue, it's not relevant.

While activists call for justice for McDade, Abigail wants justice for Malik. She believes those arguments dismiss what she feels was the real cause of McDade's and Malik's death.

Several videos taken a day prior to McDade and Malik's death, show McDade getting beat up by a group of men. Activists have pointed to that as an example of violence against transgender people. Yet Jackson says the video alone doesn't tell the full story.

In the days before Malik Jackson and McDade were killed, Abigail said Tony had even threatened to kill his own mother and presented text messages from McDade where he states that. Police were called the night of the fight. Jackson says she told them McDade was armed, and had made threats to kill. She says police went to McDade’s door and knocked, but no one answered.

“At that time they told us, if she comes back call us. And I told them, who would wait around for a crazy B—— with a knife and a gun…?”

After a while, officers left. In January, McDade was released after serving a 10-year prison sentence. Weeks before the killing, he’d had another run-in with police when they were called to a Circle-K in response to McDade allegedly threatening someone with a fake gun that looked real. Jackson questions why McDade was allowed to stay out of jail after both incidents.

“I just feel like they didn’t take the situation serious(ly) With her being a convicted felon, and having a knife and a gun, and because she’s a convicted felon she has no businesses with a knife and a gun.”

https://news.wfsu.org/wfsu-local-news/2020-07-03/malik-jacksons-life-mattered-too-family-tells-its-side-in-tony-mcdade-shooting