Spotsylvania hate crime against Black queer couple

Although racism can be much more discreet in 2025 than it was in the 1940s, it doesn’t mean that the old-fashioned brand of bigotry that is largely viewed as socially unacceptable no longer exists. In fact, if you are Black, queer, a woman, or all of the above, and you find yourself in the wrong neighborhood, city, or state, you might get a harrowing up-close look at how our ancestors were treated before civil rights.

According to reporting by the Fredericksburg Free Press, a Black, queer, married couple was attacked by a band of violent white people back in July after pulling over to inspect what they thought to be damage to their vehicle. Before Amylah Majors and Jamaria Gaskins, 23 and 24 years old, respectively, could get out of the car, they saw a man give them a “thumbs up” signal as he was joined by two others, which led the two women to believe that he was offering help. Instead, what they were offering was hatred as Majors explained on her GoFundMe page:

Two of them physically attacked my wife while brandishing a gun and shouting threats. They called us “n*ggers,” told us we didn’t belong there, and one of them even exposed himself while screaming hate and slurs at us.

She continued:

As we tried to leave, all three of them jumped into vehicles and chased us down the road. One of them rode up beside us on a 4-wheeler and aimed a gun directly at my head through the driver’s window. In that moment, we truly believed we weren’t going to make it out alive.

This hate-filled chase caused the ladies to crash, and Majors was ejected from the car and thrown onto the road. She woke up in the hospital with a fractured spine, broken clavicle, broken rib, severe concussion, and numerous head injuries.

Fortunately, there is some level, however weak, of accountability to be had, as evidenced by Spotsylvania Sheriff’s Office Maj. Delbert Myrick’s announcement of misdemeanor charges against Mark Goodman and Elizabeth Wolfrey, with potentially more charges to come.

32-year-old Wolfrey has been charged with one count of pointing and brandishing a firearm, and 59-year-old Goodman has been charged with one count of indecent exposure as he was recorded exposing himself to the couple.

In his comments to the press, Sheriff Myrick stated that his department was still investigating the incident and acknowledged the public’s concern.

“The big thing we’re trying to express is we understand the community’s outrage, or concerns or anxiety over this incident and similar incidents that have arisen in the community,” Myrick said. “At the sheriff’s office, we ensure them that we’re taking it seriously and we will examine this or thoroughly investigate this crime and present it to the Commonwealth Attorney’s office to make sure due diligence and justice is done.” 

The local chapter of the NAACP is monitoring this case, and so is BOSSIP.