Bruna has lived in Italy for at least 29 years. She says she arrived from Fortaleza in Brazil and was 42 yesterday. In Milan, in the quadrilateral between via Padova, via Arquà, via Mosso and via Giacosa, many of her know her. And everyone in the area knows the transsexual beaten by the traffic police. She claims that she came to Italy because in Brazil «there is less tolerance for people like me. I was looking for more freedom here.” No one speaks ill of her in her neighborhood: «she is always very agitated, a bit loca. We call it that from time to time», says another transgender from the area to the Milanese edition of Republic. “I can’t say we are friends with her but I see her every day and she is a good person. She just she drinks a lot, she smokes a lot, she’s always around, if you wait a bit you’ll definitely see her pop up ».
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His story led to the opening of an investigation by the prosecutor. According to the police she “kicked and beat”. But in the report to the Command there is not a word about sprays and beatings. She denied having stripped naked and added that she too had been beaten in the Ghisa’s car. Her friend assures her: «I’ve never seen her hurt anyone. Only to herself. She messes up, yells, gets upset. But you are not a bad person.’ The traders in the area say that before you always stayed in the park in via Mosso, now you have changed places. “She is with her Brazilian friends, they are harmless,” they say. Instead, she says that every now and then she goes back to Brazil: «I have my family there but I rarely see them. I’ve never bonded with anyone here. It’s complicated”. Bruna has at least two precedents for resisting a public official. In July 2019, during a check by the carabinieri, she ended up in front of the judge for a quick trial. Another is more recent.
“I will report”
A few years ago she had an accident that left a scar: “I went to the psychologist for years to get help, it was a bad time,” she says. Her friends confirm: «That’s why it doesn’t take much to make her alter, she doesn’t smell, she can’t handle alcohol and all the rest, she can’t set limits for herself. But she’s like that, she’s a good one, a little crazy but it doesn’t hurt anyone ». The two friends Monique and Michelle say that «it is not an easy life for us transsexuals. We have to be careful, nobody defends us, nobody looks after us. We happened to have some bad treatments from some agents, but they are not all like this ». It is Bruna who promises that she will not stop: «You can immediately see from people whether they are good or bad and the officers who beat me I understood that they wanted to do it, one enjoyed doing it. Street life is dangerous but be careful don’t worry. I will report what happened to me, I’m scared because I’m alone and someone might come looking for me. But talking about it gave me the strength to do it because it is right and justice is needed”.
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