Courtney Purvis, a transgender woman, still bares the physical and emotional scars of a brutal attack.
"I can't even feel safe in my community. I have to look over my shoulder. It makes me feel like I can't breathe," Purvis said.
Purvis has stitches on her back, where she was stabbed three times, and stitches on her mouth, where she was hit by a bottle.
The attack happened early Wednesday morning at 1:50 a.m. at the Post bar on Michigan Avenue, according to a statement from the Dearborn Police Department.
Purvis was there to attend a friend's birthday party. She said she was attacked by a group of women who tried to take her purse. She tried to defend herself, but the bouncers threw her to the ground and let her attackers go.
"They just basically were too concerned about a transgender woman fighting another woman, which was crazy because how could I do anything if I was the one being attacked," Purvis said.
The bar claims its surveillance cameras weren't working the night Purvis was attacked. She recorded some of the incident on her smartphone, but she said it was taken from her by someone in the bar.
Dearborn police are asking for the public's help to find the attackers. Purvis believes the bar is trying to cover up what happened.
"I just think that it's not fair cause people don't know what happened and it just scares me," she says.
Anyone who has information regarding the incident is asked to contact the Dearborn Police Department or they can leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers.
