WXIA.Activist and Atlanta city council candidate Devin Barrington-Ward told the outlet, “It popped up on my social media on Friday and when I saw it my heart was broken because I saw a piece of myself in that.”Barrington-Ward is running to represent District 9, where the incident occurred.
He reached out to the family to offer support for the boy. “As a Black queer man, I have experienced some of the same homophobia and some of the same abuse by the hands of people that I love as a child,” Barrington-Ward explained.He added, “If you saw that and you didn’t see anything wrong with that, you’re part of the problem.” Barrington-Ward said he sought to connect to the family and did so with Black trans organizer Hope Giselle from Miami.