The 17-year-old was having a meal on the floor when she was attacked with a butcher knife Sunday. Officials say they aren’t yet ruling out hate crime charges.

A man accused of stabbing a transgender 17-year-old girl with a butcher knife at Miami International Airport on Sunday was arrested and charged with attempted murder, police said.

Alexander Love, 29, was charged with first-degree attempted murder with a deadly weapon and attempted premeditated murder, according to an arrest report from the Miami-Dade Police Department.

Officers responded to Terminal J around 11:30 p.m. after reports of a stabbing, officials said in a news release. The victim was eating a meal while sitting on the floor when, officials say, Love attacked her without provocation, stabbing her about 18 times in her face, head, arms, shoulders, neck and legs before he tried to throw her over a safety retaining glass, officials said.

    • frickineh@lemmy.world
      1268·
      2 years ago

      Thank god for the TSA, keeping us all safe from 4oz of shampoo and water bottles, though, right?

    • mad_asshatter@lemmy.world
      1411·
      2 years ago

      By walking through the front doors, as at most airports in the world.
      You realize walking into an airport is no different than walking into a mall?

          • catloaf@lemm.eeEnglish
            101·
            2 years ago

            No. Tegel Airport, soon as you walked in, you were at security.

            It’s closed now, but that only means you can’t even stroll in at all.

          • lolcatnip@reddthat.comEnglish
            81·
            2 years ago

            From what I can recall, I didn’t think DFW has anything but baggage checks and ticket counters outside the secure area. You can technically go into the airport, but there’s no reason to if you’re not a passenger, and security would probably make you move if you tried to sit anywhere.

      • kent_eh@lemmy.caEnglish
        151·
        2 years ago

        You realize walking into an airport is no different than walking into a mall?

        I haven’t been to an airport in years where food was available outside the secure side.

        • mad_asshatter@lemmy.world
          43·
          2 years ago

          So, what do non-passengers eat while they’re waiting?
          Bus drivers, limo operators, other services?
          They do what?

          Toronto Pearson, Terminal 1

          NOTE - Before Security

          Top of my head, Pearson, both terminals BEFORE security: Terminal 3: Subway, A&W, Freshíí, 3 Tim Hortons
          Terminal 1: 4 Tims, Swiss Chalet, KFC, McD’s…

          I’ve been there over 3,000 times.

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
    43·
    2 years ago

    Officers responded to Terminal J around 11:30 p.m. after reports of a stabbing, officials said in a news release. The victim was eating a meal while sitting on the floor when, officials say, Love attacked her without provocation, stabbing her about 18 times in her face, head, arms, shoulders, neck and legs before he tried to throw her over a safety retaining glass, officials said.

    “The victim was able to escape the attack and ran down the stairs to the third-floor level, which is where the officers found her,” police said.

    Airports that late are just creepy in general considering how empty they are. I’ve been in them and rarely seen anyone beyond a handful of passengers and some janitors in those concourses when I was waiting for a late night flight. I could absolutely see someone being attacked in one for any number of reasons. I’m glad she was able to escape and he was caught.

  • oxjox@lemmy.mlEnglish
    475·
    2 years ago

    Love admitted to being involved in the attack and said he had become acquainted with the victim beforehand.

    “The defendant added he was possibly drugged and someone inserted an unknown object in his rectum,” the report says. “Although the defendant is not certain the victim is responsible for this, the defendant made a statement indicating he needed to hurt whoever hurt him and was prompted to purchase the knife at a Target store near Miami International Airport.”

    Appears not to be a random hate crime.

      • WeirdGoesPro@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        156·
        2 years ago

        The article says “officers responded to [an incident in] terminal J”. Every airport I’ve ever seen, large and small, have had the terminal behind security.

        • JohnnyCanuck@lemmy.ca
          4·
          2 years ago

          The terminal includes everything from check in to baggage pick up, before and after security, and often includes a food court and shops that are before security.

          Maybe you’re thinking of the “gate area” of the terminal? That’s behind security.

          • kent_eh@lemmy.caEnglish
            5·
            2 years ago

            and often includes a food court and shops that are before security.

            It’s been years since I’ve seen any food or retail on temperature non-secure side of any airport.

          • WeirdGoesPro@lemmy.dbzer0.com
            2·
            2 years ago

            The baggage check area often leads to multiple lettered sections with collections of gates.

            If the terminal is all of it, what is the letter designated collection of gates called?

              • WeirdGoesPro@lemmy.dbzer0.com
                2·
                2 years ago

                The buildings that provide access to the airplanes (via gates) are typically called concourses. However, the terms “terminal” and “concourse” are sometimes used interchangeably, depending on the configuration of the airport.

                So it seems the final answer from Wikipedia is that a terminal is the whole thing, and a collection of gates is a concourse, but a concourse is also a terminal, even though the concourse is in the terminal, which means that terminals are in terminals, and the rate at which an airport grows large enough for their concourses to be terminals is called the “terminal velocity”.

                Did I miss anything?

                • JohnnyCanuck@lemmy.ca
                  2·
                  2 years ago

                  are sometimes used interchangeably

                  Maybe it’s a regional thing.

                  I did forget the word concourse though. I wouldn’t use it in casual conversation.

        • mad_asshatter@lemmy.world
          719·
          2 years ago

          Are you claiming that there are metal detectors and agents at every single entrance at every airport you’ve been in?
          Are you confused as to what a terminal is?

          • WeirdGoesPro@lemmy.dbzer0.com
            13·
            2 years ago

            Maybe I should have started all this by saying I’m not an airport expert. I’m a dude who has flown on planes before.

            I’ve always understood the terminal to be the waiting area that the plane pulls up too—in other words, the journey terminates at the terminal gate. Yes, I have only ever seen that area assessable after you’ve passed security—at least it’s been that way post 9/11.

            If there is some nuance here where a terminal includes some parts outside of security, just say that. The tone I perceive in your post seems to be trying to make me look like a fool, and I don’t appreciate it.

            • ipkpjersi@lemmy.ml
              6·
              2 years ago

              FWIW, I’m a dude who has flown on planes before and my understanding of terminals was the same as yours.

              • mad_asshatter@lemmy.world
                31·
                2 years ago

                Toronto Pearson, eg, has 2 terminals (1 & 2).
                That’s what they are named. Because that is what they are.
                There are at least a dozen places to eat, pre-security.

                I’ve been there over 3000 times since 2013. And eaten there many of those times.

                Top of my head, I’ve been in 40 international airports, and except for Havana, I’ve never been screened pre-departure area.

                • ipkpjersi@lemmy.ml
                  2·
                  2 years ago

                  Maybe my understanding was mistaken then? In my defense, I haven’t been on a plane in like well over a decade lol

  • ShortFuse@lemmy.world
    16·
    2 years ago

    Officials said that at the police station, Love admitted to being involved in the attack and said he had become acquainted with the victim beforehand.

    “The defendant added he was possibly drugged and someone inserted an unknown object in his rectum,” the report says. “Although the defendant is not certain the victim is responsible for this, the defendant made a statement indicating he needed to hurt whoever hurt him and was prompted to purchase the knife at a Target store near Miami International Airport.”

    • Apytele@sh.itjust.works
      33·
      2 years ago

      “The defendant added he was possibly drugged and someone inserted an unknown object in his rectum,” the report says. “Although the defendant is not certain the victim is responsible for this, the defendant made a statement indicating he needed to hurt whoever hurt him and was prompted to purchase the knife at a Target store near Miami International Airport.”

      Ah yes, the good ol’ transphobic psychosis combo (it’s actually more common than you’d think, mental illness can showcase some hidden inner prejudices that people normally mask better in some pretty ugly ways). Those biases are really deeply interwoven into our society and they often worm their way right into those that are already psychologically vulnerable, then they wind up featuring strongly in delusions and hallucinations.

      It can also be genuinely trauma related, a lot of my patients have been bouncing between the street, correctional and psychiatric institutions, and shelters, any one of which a sexual assault can and is often even likely to happen in. Traumas are another thing that frequently pop up in people’s hallucinations and delusions.

      One time we had a newly admitted patient literally covering their clenched butt with their hands while waddling down the hall and looking around suspiciously. It was kind of humorous to watch but in that dark, sad way that hospital shit gets sometimes.

      • Lumelore (She/her)@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
        23·
        2 years ago

        Yeah, I’m trans and I have an aunt with schizophrenia. After I came out she started behaving very strangely whenever I am around. For example, she doesn’t call me by my name or my deadname, and instead makes up strange nonsense words that she calls me. Then she gets angry when someone tries to correct her. I only see her at holidays and I always dread going whenever she has been invited because she makes me very uncomfortable.

  • frustrated_phagocytosis@fedia.io
    614·
    2 years ago

    I’m pretty concerned that a 17 year old needing to live at the airport doesn’t cause much more uproar, and that many more people are living at airports in places like Miami.

    • grysbok@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
      3·
      2 years ago

      Could be traveling and was dropped off at the terminal too early to be allowed through security. I’ve done that—got dropped off at Logan airport at 9 pm for my 6 am flight. It’s when I could catch a ride. Ended up sleeping in shifts with some other college students in the same boat, all heading home for winter break.