Police in Austin, Texas, are investigating the assault of a transgender woman, her friend, and another man who stepped into defend them as a possible hate crime.According to Chron, the trans woman, who asked that her name be withheld, was enjoying an afternoon with friends at Barton Springs Pool, a popular Austin swimming hole, on Saturday, July 26, when three men began flirting with her two friends. A friend of one of the women, who was not present but posted an account of the incident along with video of the men fleeing the scene to Reddit, characterized the interaction as the women being incessantly hit on by the three assailants. Related Lawmakers & activists protest cruel bathroom bill outside state capitol: Leave our bodies alone Were done watching our trans community be attacked by politicians who wouldnt last five minutes walking in their shoes, one Rep. declared. The trans woman told local NBC affiliate KXAN that when one of her friends went to talk to the three men, one of them pointed at her, saying, I dont agree with that lifestyle, its gross. The friend backed off and told the trans woman and a male bystander, identified as Jarod by Chron, about the interaction.According to the Reddit users second-hand account, the three men became aggressive, escalating their verbal attacks against the three women, accusing the other two girls of being trans, poking at them near their breasts, etc. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today The trans woman told KXAN that both she and Jarod got pissed and went to talk to them and ask what their issue was.The three men then proceeded to get violent and aggressive, yelling at us and getting in our faces until one of them decided to start swinging and punched Jarod in the jaw, knocking him unconscious, she told Chron. I quickly ran over to him in an attempt to help Jarod out but was then punched in the face by the assailant in the orange shorts.Video of the assault shared by Austin performer and activist Brigitte Bandit on Instagram backs up the trans womans account. One clip shows a second woman, identified by Chron as Tokyo, being shoved to the ground by a man in orange shorts. A man in black shorts intervenes and is punched by the man in orange shorts. As the confrontation continues, a second man in a cowboy hat sucker punches the man in black shorts, who falls to the ground, apparently unconscious. As a second woman approaches the unconscious man, she is punched in the face by the man in orange shorts.A separate video shows the three men fleeing the scene, the man in orange shorts shoving one of the women again. In a July 29 statement posted to X, the Austin Police Department (APD) said that officers arrived at the scene around 5:22 p.m. on Saturday to find Jarod being treated by Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services. He was later taken to a local hospital.According to a GoFundMe campaign set up by his parents, Jarod sustained gashes to his head, a bleeding ear, a broken jaw, and a concussion and will require surgery. A construction worker and father of a young son, Jarod is without health insurance, and his injuries will require him to miss up to three weeks of work, according to a message on the GoFundMe page. As of Friday, August 1, the campaign has received over $68,000, more than triple its initial goal of $20,000.In a July 29 Instagram post, Bandit said that she believed the three assailants had been identified and that information had been sent to the folks involved. ADP has also asked that anyone with information about the attack or relevant photo and video evidence contact Capital Area Crime Stoppers. In her post, Bandit also included what she said was a message from the man who was attacked while defending the trans woman and her friends.I just wanted to stand up for a nice person that I had just met, the message reads, but the outpouring of love from your community has been overwhelming, so thank you with all of my heart.Speaking to Chron, the trans woman described Jarod as an absolute angel.I had never known him before that day, but he stood up for me when I was being harassed and he took the most of the assault, she told the outlet. He deserves every penny to help pay for his surgery and his time off work to care of himself and his kid.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.