JGalt
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- Mar 9, 2011
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No, it's not a headline from a supermarket tabloid. This story has so much "WTF?" you'll have a hard time believing it's actually true.
"Rose Hill resident takes cuts at Johnson, members of VFDs, reporter in complaints on terroristic threat case
A transgender Muslim firefighter who was charged with making terroristic threats has been bombarding Jasper County officials with complaints and motions — including one requesting euthanasia — since that June arrest.
Tanya Morgan, 64, of Rose Hill has “divergent gender issues,” and that has been revealed by local officials, according to documents filed in Jasper County Circuit Court on Aug. 15. “ ... (I)nstead of being a Muslim female, Im being defamed and adjudicated as ... a chick who cut her d - - k off or any other of the many homosexual slurs the Christian community of Mississippi embrace,” Morgan wrote in a rambling motion that was rife with spelling and grammatical errors.
Morgan made a claim of being “harassed ... while I was naked and trying to take a shower” in the Jasper County Jail before being “dragged” and “locked up naked without my clothing or hijab” then being photographed by a deputy who “appeared to have an erection.”
There is video evidence to refute those allegations, Sheriff Randy Johnson said.
“While in confinement I was attacked by two male officer (sic),” Morgan wrote. “My faith allows me to engage in euthanasia when abused. I request you allow me to seek medical intervention in either Australia, Canada, Colombia or Italy.”
Morgan requested a hearing before Judge Matthew Sullivan in Jasper County Circuit Court to rule on that request at his earliest convenience.
“It is all financial and my inability to allow myself to be punished and ridiculed as some sort of faggot, terroristic muslum (sic) by the christian majority of Jasper county and most importantly I had my medical privacy violated by a Bay Springs prosecutor, because he wanted to expose me to bias and intolerance,” Morgan wrote in conclusion after making the request to be allowed to undergo euthanasia.
“I refuse to further engage with people who so clearly hate me, simply because I want to support my community. I want to have peace and It is only in death that I will likely receive it. My husband needs the money that a good defense attorney would cost.”
Since converting to Islam and undergoing surgery to transition from a man to a woman, local officials have removed the hose from the defendant’s hands, too, according to Morgan’s motion. Morgan had been a member of the Paulding and Rose Hill volunteer fire departments, but was dismissed after Johnson “released his lies and attacks on me.”
Morgan was referring to “news releases” from the sheriff about the arrest, but Johnson did not do a news release about the case. A Leader-Call reporter contacted Johnson about the circumstances surrounding the unusual and serious charge after it was displayed on the Jasper County Jail website with all of the other inmates and their charges. Johnson was out of town at the time and the reporter was referred to documents and reports about the incident.
Morgan took particular exception to being referred to as a “wannabe firefighter” in the LL-C story about the case, claiming that was Johnson’s statement. But that was the reporter’s characterization of the defendant, for wanting to serve but not being allowed to, based on claims Morgan has made.
“As a fully certified FF2, it is impossible to describe me accurately as a wannabe fire fighter,” according to the motion. “The intent of describing me as a wannabe and not as a fire fighter is simple defamation designed to show the community I was not fit to be a firefighter.”
Two of the exhibits show Tanya Morgan is “internationally certified” as Firefighter I and Firefighter II by the Arkansas Fire Training Academy through the International Fire Service Accreditation Congress, with course completion dates of Oct. 29, 2020.
Morgan was reportedly fighting with firefighters at a June 4 meeting at the Jasper County Emergency Management office and asked to leave, and that’s what led to the arrest. Morgan made numerous calls to 911 to report that a flag had been placed in the window of the county building, and when told no one would be charged, Morgan responded by threatening to shoot into multiple county and city buildings, according to reports.
The defendant did “feloniously threaten to commit a crime of violence ... (causing) a reasonable fear of imminent commission of an offense, and in making the threat, Tanya Morgan had the intent to influence or affect, by intimidation of coercion, the police or conduct of the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department,” according to the grand jury’s indictment.
Morgan, who was initially held without bond but later released on $200,000 bond, has since appeared in court at least twice and filed a half-dozen or more motions. Morgan reportedly had disputes with the first two attorneys to take the case and has hired Matt Eichelberger of Jackson. That’s what Morgan told Sullivan during a short hearing in Covington County Circuit Court in Collins last week.
The judge noted that Morgan “has ties to other states” and ordered no out-of-state travel without the approval of District Attorney Chris Hennis’ office. A request will be made, Morgan said, because of surgery that’s scheduled in another state.
Public defender Reggie Blackledge made sure that the judge had his order that he was withdrawing from the case. The judge had appointed Blackledge to the case after Morgan “had to fire” previous attorney Michael Mitchell, according to a motion.
During arraignments on Aug. 16 at the Jasper County courthouse in Bay Springs, Sullivan asked all of the defendants who came before him if they had any aliases or any other names they had gone by in the past. Morgan was last, and when asked that, replied, “I don’t want to speak ... I have a medical condition.”
Sullivan asked, “What was the name on your birth certificate?”
The defendant said, “The name on my birth certificate is Matilda Jean Duffy.”
Public defender Thomas Tullos stood in as public defender for the purpose of the arraignment, waived the reading of the indictment and entered a plea of not guilty. The trial was set for Jasper County Circuit Court on Feb. 19. Instead of exercising the right to remain silent, Morgan continued talking about hiring an attorney after December, then went into a discussion about household finances before the judge said, “I know you have filed some outstanding motions ... and on the appropriate day, they will be scheduled and the court will hear them.”
After being shown some documents by officials at the bench, Sullivan asked Morgan, “Have you ever gone by Matthew Duffy?”
Morgan, who had taken the oath to tell the truth a few minutes earlier, said people there were trying “to out me as anything other than female” and called it a “gender corrections issue.” In the motion, it was requested that the portion referring to that be sealed, but that and other motions have not been ruled on yet.
After the Leader-Call story about the arrest was published in June, Morgan made numerous calls to the newspaper office and stopped by at least twice asking for the reporter, who was out doing other duties at the time. When contacted by email asking for “the other side of the story,” Morgan referred to the sheriff’s “defamation of me.” When asked for specifics, Morgan wrote, in part, “either let’s move forward with a rebuttal or I will simply include you and yours in the law suit.”
When asked again for specifics regarding the arrest, Morgan wrote, “I did not repeatedly threaten to kill people,” but didn’t answer other direct questions, referring to the reporter as “a pipeline to the prosecutor” who “obviously (has) no intention of offering me a fair read in the Jasper County community.”
The arrest was “what happens to a Muslim in a Christian hateful community such as Jasper,” Morgan wrote. “I feel this arrest was nothing more tan (sic) an attempt to punish me for threatening to sue the county and Rose Hill fire department for discrimination.”
The reporter made reference to how Morgan had “harangued our staff” in the days following the article, to which Morgan responded, “Harangued our staff, now that is something I can sue you for defamation Mark,” then included a legal description of “written defamation,” apparently without looking up the definition of the word “harangued.”
Story continues here:
Transgender Muslim firefighter asks court to allow euthanasia
And here:
Reports: Wannabe firefighter threatens to shoot officials
Transgender Muslim firefighter asks court to allow euthanasia
"Rose Hill resident takes cuts at Johnson, members of VFDs, reporter in complaints on terroristic threat case
A transgender Muslim firefighter who was charged with making terroristic threats has been bombarding Jasper County officials with complaints and motions — including one requesting euthanasia — since that June arrest.
Tanya Morgan, 64, of Rose Hill has “divergent gender issues,” and that has been revealed by local officials, according to documents filed in Jasper County Circuit Court on Aug. 15. “ ... (I)nstead of being a Muslim female, Im being defamed and adjudicated as ... a chick who cut her d - - k off or any other of the many homosexual slurs the Christian community of Mississippi embrace,” Morgan wrote in a rambling motion that was rife with spelling and grammatical errors.
Morgan made a claim of being “harassed ... while I was naked and trying to take a shower” in the Jasper County Jail before being “dragged” and “locked up naked without my clothing or hijab” then being photographed by a deputy who “appeared to have an erection.”
There is video evidence to refute those allegations, Sheriff Randy Johnson said.
“While in confinement I was attacked by two male officer (sic),” Morgan wrote. “My faith allows me to engage in euthanasia when abused. I request you allow me to seek medical intervention in either Australia, Canada, Colombia or Italy.”
Morgan requested a hearing before Judge Matthew Sullivan in Jasper County Circuit Court to rule on that request at his earliest convenience.
“It is all financial and my inability to allow myself to be punished and ridiculed as some sort of faggot, terroristic muslum (sic) by the christian majority of Jasper county and most importantly I had my medical privacy violated by a Bay Springs prosecutor, because he wanted to expose me to bias and intolerance,” Morgan wrote in conclusion after making the request to be allowed to undergo euthanasia.
“I refuse to further engage with people who so clearly hate me, simply because I want to support my community. I want to have peace and It is only in death that I will likely receive it. My husband needs the money that a good defense attorney would cost.”
Since converting to Islam and undergoing surgery to transition from a man to a woman, local officials have removed the hose from the defendant’s hands, too, according to Morgan’s motion. Morgan had been a member of the Paulding and Rose Hill volunteer fire departments, but was dismissed after Johnson “released his lies and attacks on me.”
Morgan was referring to “news releases” from the sheriff about the arrest, but Johnson did not do a news release about the case. A Leader-Call reporter contacted Johnson about the circumstances surrounding the unusual and serious charge after it was displayed on the Jasper County Jail website with all of the other inmates and their charges. Johnson was out of town at the time and the reporter was referred to documents and reports about the incident.
Morgan took particular exception to being referred to as a “wannabe firefighter” in the LL-C story about the case, claiming that was Johnson’s statement. But that was the reporter’s characterization of the defendant, for wanting to serve but not being allowed to, based on claims Morgan has made.
“As a fully certified FF2, it is impossible to describe me accurately as a wannabe fire fighter,” according to the motion. “The intent of describing me as a wannabe and not as a fire fighter is simple defamation designed to show the community I was not fit to be a firefighter.”
Two of the exhibits show Tanya Morgan is “internationally certified” as Firefighter I and Firefighter II by the Arkansas Fire Training Academy through the International Fire Service Accreditation Congress, with course completion dates of Oct. 29, 2020.
Morgan was reportedly fighting with firefighters at a June 4 meeting at the Jasper County Emergency Management office and asked to leave, and that’s what led to the arrest. Morgan made numerous calls to 911 to report that a flag had been placed in the window of the county building, and when told no one would be charged, Morgan responded by threatening to shoot into multiple county and city buildings, according to reports.
The defendant did “feloniously threaten to commit a crime of violence ... (causing) a reasonable fear of imminent commission of an offense, and in making the threat, Tanya Morgan had the intent to influence or affect, by intimidation of coercion, the police or conduct of the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department,” according to the grand jury’s indictment.
Morgan, who was initially held without bond but later released on $200,000 bond, has since appeared in court at least twice and filed a half-dozen or more motions. Morgan reportedly had disputes with the first two attorneys to take the case and has hired Matt Eichelberger of Jackson. That’s what Morgan told Sullivan during a short hearing in Covington County Circuit Court in Collins last week.
The judge noted that Morgan “has ties to other states” and ordered no out-of-state travel without the approval of District Attorney Chris Hennis’ office. A request will be made, Morgan said, because of surgery that’s scheduled in another state.
Public defender Reggie Blackledge made sure that the judge had his order that he was withdrawing from the case. The judge had appointed Blackledge to the case after Morgan “had to fire” previous attorney Michael Mitchell, according to a motion.
During arraignments on Aug. 16 at the Jasper County courthouse in Bay Springs, Sullivan asked all of the defendants who came before him if they had any aliases or any other names they had gone by in the past. Morgan was last, and when asked that, replied, “I don’t want to speak ... I have a medical condition.”
Sullivan asked, “What was the name on your birth certificate?”
The defendant said, “The name on my birth certificate is Matilda Jean Duffy.”
Public defender Thomas Tullos stood in as public defender for the purpose of the arraignment, waived the reading of the indictment and entered a plea of not guilty. The trial was set for Jasper County Circuit Court on Feb. 19. Instead of exercising the right to remain silent, Morgan continued talking about hiring an attorney after December, then went into a discussion about household finances before the judge said, “I know you have filed some outstanding motions ... and on the appropriate day, they will be scheduled and the court will hear them.”
After being shown some documents by officials at the bench, Sullivan asked Morgan, “Have you ever gone by Matthew Duffy?”
Morgan, who had taken the oath to tell the truth a few minutes earlier, said people there were trying “to out me as anything other than female” and called it a “gender corrections issue.” In the motion, it was requested that the portion referring to that be sealed, but that and other motions have not been ruled on yet.
After the Leader-Call story about the arrest was published in June, Morgan made numerous calls to the newspaper office and stopped by at least twice asking for the reporter, who was out doing other duties at the time. When contacted by email asking for “the other side of the story,” Morgan referred to the sheriff’s “defamation of me.” When asked for specifics, Morgan wrote, in part, “either let’s move forward with a rebuttal or I will simply include you and yours in the law suit.”
When asked again for specifics regarding the arrest, Morgan wrote, “I did not repeatedly threaten to kill people,” but didn’t answer other direct questions, referring to the reporter as “a pipeline to the prosecutor” who “obviously (has) no intention of offering me a fair read in the Jasper County community.”
The arrest was “what happens to a Muslim in a Christian hateful community such as Jasper,” Morgan wrote. “I feel this arrest was nothing more tan (sic) an attempt to punish me for threatening to sue the county and Rose Hill fire department for discrimination.”
The reporter made reference to how Morgan had “harangued our staff” in the days following the article, to which Morgan responded, “Harangued our staff, now that is something I can sue you for defamation Mark,” then included a legal description of “written defamation,” apparently without looking up the definition of the word “harangued.”
Story continues here:
Transgender Muslim firefighter asks court to allow euthanasia
And here:
Reports: Wannabe firefighter threatens to shoot officials
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