Transgender woman arrested for aggravated assault against public official is jailed — with male inmates

A biological male who identifies as a woman was arrested on a first-degree felony charge of aggravated assault against a public servant after 12-hour standoff with police in Harker Heights, Texas, and was booked Monday into the Bell County Jail — with male inmates, despite the suspect's transgender status, the Killeen Daily Journal reported.

 

"Inmates are processed based on their actual sex at the time they arrive here and not what they say they want to be," Chuck Cox, chief deputy of the Bell County Sheriff's Office, told the paper. "It is our policy to keep all inmates safe regardless of who they are."

What are the details?

The Daily Journal said Justin D. Robison, 39 — known as Arial Robison — was listed in the Bell County Jail on Thursday on a $200,000 bond.

Harker Heights police were called to Robison's home about 9 p.m. Sunday for a welfare check after receiving calls about a suicidal person, the paper reported.

Robison posted on Facebook about 9:30 p.m., "I wanted to die, suicide by cop, [but] I don't want to hurt anyone," the Daily Journal said, adding that Robison admitted to firing a gun three times — once into the ground and twice into a brick wall.

Police confirmed that Robison was armed with an AR-15 rifle and fired multiple shots inside the home during the standoff but did not shoot anyone, the paper said.

Lt. Stephen Miller of the Harker Heights Police Department told KWTX-TV that the suspect fired shots as officers cordoned off and secured the area around the home. Police on Friday confirmed to TheBlaze that Robison was charged with aggravated assault against a public servant for firing shots with officers in the area.

The standoff ended around 9 a.m. Monday after the SWAT team breached the home, the Daily Journal said.

Anything else?

Robison served in the Army from September 1998 to February 2013, was not deployed, and reached the rank of specialist as of June 2012, the paper said, adding that the military referred to Robison as Justin Robison.

"She wants everyone to be equal and fair, and she is doing this to fight for her rights," Robison's sister said in an interview, according to KWTX.

The paper added that according to the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, 40 percent of respondents have attempted suicide in their lifetime — nearly nine times the attempted suicide rate in the U.S. population.