Portland transgender woman beaten in alleged hate crime, records show

A Portland man is facing attempted murder and hate crime charges after prosecutors accused him of flying into a rage and punching a transgender woman so hard that police officers who responded to him could not make out the woman's facial features.

According to a probable cause affidavit, Worth M. Briggs IV, 55, used a slur targeting the woman's gender identity during the May 11 beating at a home in southwest Portland.

Briggs had supplied the woman with drugs in the past and had gone to her home to ask her to do drugs with him, but when she refused, he repeatedly hit her, the affidavit states.

Briggs also allegedly burned the woman's arm on a hotplate and strangled her, the affidavit said. The attack ended when the woman gave Briggs $300, prosecutors said.

“The bruising and swelling around (the woman's) eyes were so severe that officers were unable to identify her,” prosecutor Leslie Wu wrote in the affidavit.

Portland police arrested Briggs on June 18. He remains in the downtown jail, records show, facing charges that include attempted murder and a first-degree felony.

Defense attorney Gayle Kvernland is calling for the longtime stagehand and fast food cook to be released because Briggs poses no danger to the public. His criminal record includes convictions for attempted kidnapping and methamphetamine possession.

Kvernland did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

According to a report issued to lawmakers in July by the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission, nearly 600 gender identity-based hate crimes were reported to the state's Bias Response Hotline in 2023 – an increase of more than 50% from the previous year.

Fay Stetz-Waters, civil rights officer for the Oregon Department of Justice, said at the time that the data showed both an increase in the overall number of incidents and an increase in awareness of the hotline, which led to more reports.

—Zane Sparling covers breaking news and court issues for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Reach him at 503-319-7083, [email protected] or @pdxzane.

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