Tony McDade was a 38-year-old Black transgender man fatally shot by a Tallahassee Police Department officer on May 27, 2020, about fifteen minutes after he stabbed 21-year-old Malik Jackson to death in a nearby driveway. The Tony McDade police shooting became a national flashpoint two days after George Floyd’s killing in Minneapolis, drew attention to violence against Black transgender people, and triggered a three-year legal fight over whether Florida police officers could use Marsy’s Law to keep their names secret after killing someone on duty.
Who Tony McDade Was
McDade grew up in the Southside neighborhoods of Tallahassee and attended Oak Ridge Elementary, Fairview Middle, and Godby High schools. His childhood was marked by severe abuse. He was sexually abused by a great-uncle starting at age five and sexually assaulted by three different men before he turned eighteen; none were prosecuted. He began using drugs at thirteen, the same year he was expelled from middle school and had his first encounter with police.1Dissent Magazine. The Lives and Deaths of Tony McDade and Malik Jackson
McDade was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. In a 2009 letter to Leon Circuit Judge Mark Walker, he pleaded for treatment instead of prison: “I have an anger problem and always fought behind my anger. I NEED HELP PLEASE SIR. I have a mental problem.”2Tallahassee Democrat. Natosha Tony McDade: Mental Illness, Fatal Stabbing, Police Shooting He accumulated more than a dozen arrests, served five years in state prison for armed robbery, and later served a ten-year federal sentence on gun charges tied to a probation violation. He completed that federal time at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, a women’s facility, and was released in January 2020. In his final years he was transitioning and had begun using the name Tony.
After his release, McDade settled in Tallahassee’s Bond neighborhood near the Leon Arms apartments on Holton Street. In the months before his death he reported being robbed at gunpoint and being struck by a car. In early May 2020 he was charged with assault with a deadly weapon after allegedly threatening someone outside a Circle K with a BB gun, and he was on pretrial release for that charge when he died.1Dissent Magazine. The Lives and Deaths of Tony McDade and Malik Jackson
The Stabbing That Came First
McDade had developed a relationship with his neighbor Jennifer Jackson, but it had soured. He reportedly sent her threatening texts, entered her home uninvited, and hit her with a gun. On May 26, a fight broke out between McDade and four men, including Jennifer’s 21-year-old son Malik Jackson and several of Malik’s cousins, outside the Jackson home. The family called police to report assault and trespassing, hoping officers would detain McDade given his pretrial release status. According to the family, police minimized the situation and did not intervene.3WFSU News. Malik Jackson’s Life Mattered Too: Family Tells Its Side in Tony McDade Shooting
Overnight, McDade recorded a Facebook Live video saying he had been “jumped” by five men and vowing retaliation: “I’m telling you five motherf—ers that you’re going to die.” He spoke about his childhood trauma, saying, “Nobody knew what was going on with Natosha,” and described what he called a “suicide mission.” He told viewers: “Just know before I kill myself through a shootout, because that’s what’s going to happen, because I’m going to pull it out and you know these officers nowadays they see a gun they just going to shoot.”4WFSU News. What We’ve Learned About Events Prior to the Death of Tony McDade
On the morning of May 27, McDade attacked and fatally stabbed Malik Jackson in the driveway of Jennifer Jackson’s triplex on Saxon Street.5Tallahassee Democrat. Malik Jackson Family Sues City Over Video Showing His Last Moments He then fled to the Holton Street apartment complex.
The Shooting on Holton Street
About fifteen minutes after the stabbing, a Tallahassee Police Department officer responding to the 911 call encountered McDade near the apartment complex. TPD Chief Lawrence Revell and court filings by the Florida Police Benevolent Association said McDade matched the description of the stabbing suspect and was armed. The PBA’s filing stated that as McDade approached the officer he “held his arms out in a shooting stance” and pointed the weapon at him. The officer fired and killed McDade in what police called self-defense.6Tallahassee Democrat. PBA Court Filings: Tony McDade Aimed at Officer
Witnesses at the apartment complex told WFSU they did not hear the officer give any verbal commands before the gunshots.7Rolling Stone. Tony McDade Shooting Death Tallahassee McDade’s family attorney, Mutaqee Akbar, called for release of body camera footage and additional documentation, saying the records TPD had released were “heavily redacted and missing details.”6Tallahassee Democrat. PBA Court Filings: Tony McDade Aimed at Officer The officer who fired the fatal shots had not activated his own body camera, a violation of department policy.
Grand Jury Clears the Officer
TPD opened three simultaneous investigations: into Jackson’s stabbing, McDade’s death, and the officer-involved shooting. The shooting went to a Leon County grand jury, which on September 4, 2020, found the use of lethal force justified. The panel reviewed cellphone video of the earlier altercation, McDade’s Facebook Live footage, and body camera video from a backup officer identified as Trent Roberts. The grand jury noted that McDade was armed with both a gun and a knife and had assumed a “shooting stance” while walking toward the officer. McDade’s family attorney said the gun was unloaded, but the grand jury report did not address that detail.8Tallahassee Democrat. Grand Jury Clears Police Officers in Shootings Including Tony McDade No charges were brought.
The city released body camera footage the same day the grand jury issued its findings, after months of withholding the videos. Akbar had sued State Attorney Jack Campbell and TPD in Leon Circuit Court in June 2020 seeking the recordings, but Judge John Cooper denied an injunction, ruling that under Florida law the footage was confidential until grand jury proceedings concluded.9Tallahassee Democrat. Judge Denies Request to Release Footage of McDade Shooting By court order, the released videos were altered to obscure officer identities.10WCTV. City of Tallahassee Releases Body Cam Footage in Three Officer-Involved Shootings
The Marsy’s Law Fight Over the Officer’s Name
The most lasting legal question from McDade’s death was whether the officer who shot him could keep his name secret under Florida’s Marsy’s Law, a 2018 constitutional amendment giving crime victims the right to prevent disclosure of information that could be used to locate or harass them. The Florida Police Benevolent Association argued the officer was himself a victim because McDade had pointed a gun at him, so his identity should be shielded.
On June 12, 2020, the PBA sued the City of Tallahassee seeking an injunction to block release of the names of two officers, identified in the filings as “John Doe 1” and “John Doe 2.” The trial court denied the petition and ordered the names released. The PBA appealed.11FindLaw. City of Tallahassee v. Florida Police Benevolent Association
On April 6, 2021, a three-judge panel of the First District Court of Appeal unanimously reversed. Judge Lori Rowe wrote that a police officer “meets the definition of a crime victim” under Marsy’s Law “when a crime suspect threatens the officer with deadly force, placing the officer in fear for his life.”12WFSU News. Tallahassee Police Officers Get Protections Under Marsy’s Law The ruling meant officers across Florida could conceal their identities after fatal shootings by claiming victim status. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and other press organizations filed briefs opposing it.13Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. Tallahassee v. Florida Police Union
The City of Tallahassee and a coalition of news organizations appealed to the Florida Supreme Court. On November 30, 2023, the Court quashed the appellate decision, holding that “Marsy’s Law guarantees to no victim — police officer or otherwise — the categorical right to withhold his or her name from disclosure.” The Court reasoned that the constitutional protection for “information or records that could be used to locate or harass” a victim does not cover the victim’s name itself.14Supreme Court of Florida. City of Tallahassee v. Florida Police Benevolent Association, Opinion SC2021-0651 Even so, the identity of the officer who shot McDade had not been publicly released as of the case’s resolution.
Protests and Public Response
McDade died two days after George Floyd, and his case quickly became a rallying point for activists arguing that Black transgender lives were being left out of the broader reckoning with police violence. The hashtag #TonyMcDade spread alongside #BlackLivesMatter, and on May 29, 2020, seventy-five LGBTQ organizations issued a statement of solidarity with anti-racist protesters.15Them. Stop Trying to Justify Tony McDade’s Killing
The ACLU of Florida called for an independent investigation; deputy field director Natishia June said, “Justice cannot be served without accountability.” Equality Florida’s executive director Nadine Smith called Florida an “epicenter” of anti-trans violence, noting that seven Black transgender women had been murdered in the state over the previous two years. The Human Rights Campaign identified McDade’s death as at least the twelfth violent death of a transgender or gender nonconforming person in the United States that year.16ABC News. LGBTQ Community Calls for Justice for Black Trans Man Shot by Police The Tallahassee Community Action Committee called for Chief Lawrence Revell’s resignation and organized a protest demanding it. The Okra Project, a mutual aid group for Black trans people, launched a mental health fund in McDade’s honor on June 1, 2020.
Deadnaming in Early Coverage
Early news reports drew sharp criticism for using McDade’s birth name and female pronouns, following the lead of law enforcement reports that identified him by his legal name. A resource document produced by Black trans activists and journalists, including Janet Mock and Raquel Willis, argued that practice should not be treated as standard journalism.17Columbia Journalism Review. Black Trans Lives Matter Critics also noted that even when Black trans victims received visual acknowledgment, such as when The New Yorker included McDade in an illustration alongside George Floyd, the accompanying text often failed to mention the person’s trans identity.