London, Ontario-based transgender activist, popular on the online platform Twitch . He was arrested at gunpoint by the police, and he says his life was in danger after he took the threats sent to him seriously. by someone who would risk her life.
Clara Sorrenti, 28, said — someone called and threatened the police, resulting in the beating of an armed police officer. He says he was a victim of the practice. She is sent to someone else's home or place of work.
"The work I do is important and people appreciate me every day," Sorrenti told CBC News. When I saw the police guns pointed at me, I really thought I was going to die. I have never been so scared in my life."
Sorrenti uses Keffals on Twitch. Here you can broadcast people playing video her games. She has more than 42,000 of her followers, and she currently speaks out against America's anti-trans laws and transgender rights. Sorrenti transitioned when she was a teenager.
Sorrenti was the Communist Party of Canada candidate in the 2019 federal elections.
"Almost every day I receive messages from trans people, especially young trans people, telling them that I have encouraged them to be themselves." she said. "But people hate me and try to shut me up."
That online harassment has occasionally spilled into the real world, including the incident earlier this month. , she said Sorrenti.
On August 5, she said, when she was in her apartment, the sound of London police banging on her door woke her up. They created search warrants to find handguns, ammunition, firearm casings, cleaning supplies, gun cases, cell phones, and computers.
Threatening city council members
"The police who arrested me dragged me down the hallway, pushed me against the wall, handcuffed me, and told me the charges. They went and searched my apartment for eight hours," Sorrenti said.
Police also used her birth name, Sorrenti said. Her former name, which is no longer her real name, is also on police documents.
London Police said they were contacted by city officials on 5 August about the threat of violence.
"The officers launched an investigation and through the evidence obtained, were successful in obtaining judicial authority to search the residence," the officer told CBC News.
“Ms. Sorrenti was arrested as the investigation progressed and was subsequently released without charge pending analysis of the seized electronic equipment.
Police told Sorrenti that someone had used her name and address to become a member of the City of London Council. She sent threats to and confessed to the murder, which she said led to a police raid. Sorrenti said the person who wrote the threatening letter also used the name she was given at birth and should have sounded alarm bells if police were sensitive to transgender issues.
"No one in my life has called me by that name. It's been 10 years since someone did. The only reason people use it is , to mock me. Take my power and dignity away."
Her brother told London police in March that Sorrenti could be the victim of a beating. I warned you not to, she said. While trans has been influential in her community, she has also faced a barrage of attacks on her social media, detailed in an article in her Washington Post in June. It was explained.
In a YouTube post, Sorrenti said someone impersonating her threatened a local politician when she visited Toronto on July 31. Police in spoke to her, and the incident culminated in an attempted slap.Toronto police told CBC News the files were open and the case was still under investigation.
Sorrenti wants police to be better trained on how to treat transgender people. She also launched an online fundraiser, raising nearly $32,000 in five hours. The money is to be transferred, said Sorrenti, because someone unscrupulous knows her address.
