Cops: DJ In Priest Garb Assaults Transgender

JULY 30--A Nebraska DJ is facing a felony hate crime charge after he allegedly assaulted a transgender woman in the women’s bathroom at an Omaha bar.

According to cops, after Stephen Thompson, 45, punched Kara Barone, 27, in the face late Friday night, he called her a “faggot” and yelled “other anti homosexual slurs after the assault.”

As detailed in Omaha Police Department reports, Barone--who is identified as Brandon Barone by cops--was “dressed in drag wearing a black dress, make up, and a wig.” Officers noted that Barone “advised he identifies as a female and uses the name ‘Kara.’”

Barone told cops she was in the women’s bathroom at the Down Under Lounge when she was attacked by Thompson, who barged into the bathroom in search of his girlfriend. Thompson (pictured above) told police he struck Barone after she “opened the door” and “came out aggressively.”

A female patron who was waiting to use the bathroom told cops that she witnessed Thompson assault “a male dressed in drag.”

Officers responding to the nightclub noted that Barone (seen below) had a swollen lip and her face was bloodied. Barone is three years into her transition and has been receiving hormone therapy treatments for two years.

While Thompson would normally have been charged with misdemeanor assault, the alleged use of “anti homosexual language” resulted in him being “booked for felony assault (hate crime enhanced),” police reported.

Thompson, who is being held in the Douglas County jail in lieu of $50,000 bond, frequently spins at the Down Under Lounge. When busted, he was wearing a “black Catholic priest shirt/collar w/black skinny skeleton jeans,” cops noted. (2 pages)