Stand-your-ground law in Wyoming is skewed, says trans woman charged with assault
Ríhanna Kelver of Wyoming said she pulled a gun in self-defense on three men after they pushed her to the ground. (Image from YouTube)
A Wyoming transgender woman was recently charged with aggravated assault and possession of a deadly weapon with unlawful intent after pulling a gun on three men who she said confronted her with gay slurs and pushed her to the ground.
The September incident happened in front of the Crowbar & Grill, a Laramie, Wyoming, establishment where Ríhanna Kelver bartended. The town does not have any gay bars, according to the Laramie Reporter’s Substack, but the Crowbar & Grill has drawn some ire for displaying LGBTQ+ pride and Black Lives Matter flags. Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old gay man, was beaten and killed near the town in 1998.
“I had to defend myself. I don’t know how it wasn’t reasonable, given the dangers and threats trans people hear every day,” Kelver told the New York Times.
Wyoming has a stand-your-ground law, according to the Institute for Legislative Action of the National Rifle Association. It holds that anyone who is attacked in a location where they have a right to be does not have a duty to retreat before using reasonable force, providing that force is not the initial aggressor, and they are not doing something illegal.
Kelver, 28, said she was standing outside smoking a cigarette before her shift started when the three men shouted obscenities and slurs about her and the Crowbar & Grill, according to the Laramie Reporter’s Substack.
The three men are not identified in the police report. One, referred to as “S.D.” in the affidavit, told police that he yelled, “F- - - the Crowbar,” because he liked another bar, the Buckhorn Bar and Parlor, better, according to the Laramie Reporter’s Substack.
Kelver told the Laramie Reporter’s Substack that she stood up and yelled “Hey, what the f- - -?” and then they started yelling gay slurs at her, as well as threats to beat her up.
None of the alleged slurs are in the police report, according to the Laramie Reporter’s Substack. There was video of the incident, but it didn’t have audio. According to the story, police reviewed the footage. It also reports that according to the affidavit, police said they viewed Kelver close to one of the men with her hand on a satchel that held her gun. A second later, the man pushed her, she took a few steps back and fell, according to the story.
The story also reports that according to the filing, police said she then removed what looked like a gun; appeared to load it; and pointed it to her left, where the man was.
According to the New York Times, the police report also said Kelver approached the men and asked “What did you just say?” before being pushed to the ground. The man who pushed Kelver told police that he was not trying to start a fight, and none of the men were charged, according to the article.
Wyoming requires no permits to purchase or carry guns, according to the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action website. Kelver grew up around guns and brings one on solo road trips, she told the New York Times. If she was a biological woman and shoved to the ground by three men, Kelver said, she would not have been charged.
The county attorney for Laramie, Wyoming, told the New York Times that Kelver’s gender and sexual orientation did not influence his decision to prosecute the case. She also was charged with a misdemeanor for initially telling police that she pulled out a knife, not a gun, according to the article.
Kelver told the New York Times that she was upset after the incident and misspoke. Her trial is scheduled for November.
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