A Wyoming judge has ruled that a transgender bartender should stand trial on felony charges stemming from an incident in which he brandished a firearm at three men who he feared would attack him.
On September 13, 2025, Rihanna Kerber, 28, was smoking a cigarette outside her Laramie workplace, Clover & Grill, just before her late night shift when the collision occurred.
Although there are no gay bars in Laramie, The Crowbar & Grill has developed a reputation as an LGBTQ-friendly establishment. This bar used to be targeted There was vandalism and negative online reviews of Pride and Black Lives Matter flags and signs for all-gender restrooms.
As Ms. Kerber stood outside the bar, a man identified in court documents as “SD” or “Durham,” accompanied by at least two other men, yelled at her from across Second Street. Although the exact wording is disputed, Kerber claims that SD yelled, “Bars are a piece of cake! That bar should be closed.”
Kerber said. laramie reporter She reportedly responded by yelling, “Hey, what the hell is going on?” She alleges that SD responded, “You hear me, you son of a bitch,” and that SD and his allies continued to hurl anti-LGBTQ slurs such as “fuck you” and “tranny” and threatened her with “fuck you.” [her] Up,” which she interpreted as a threat of violence.
SD disputes Kerber’s explanation. “I yelled, ‘Fuck the crowbar,’ because I preferred Buckhorn Bar,” according to the affidavit. The police report also makes no mention of anti-LGBTQ slurs directed at Kerber.
The confrontation escalated when Kerber and the man approached each other at a crosswalk and the SD pushed Kerber to the ground. After the fall, Kerber pulled a blue-green SCCY .380 subcompact pistol from his bag.
The altercation was captured by a camera live streaming the intersection near the bar, but the footage did not include audio. According to a police affidavit, the video appears to show Kerber approaching the men while reaching for a bag in which the firearm was stored.
After being thrown to the ground, Kerber was seen pulling the weapon, racking the slide into the bullet’s chamber and aiming it at the S.D., Kerber said. reporter It turns out she had no intention of firing the gun.
“When I hit the ground, I saw three people on top of me. That’s when I reached for my school bag,” she said. “The safety was engaged and my finger was never on the trigger. I just wanted them to hear the sound of the chamber to get them away from me and I was pointing the gun in their direction, specifically the person who assaulted me.”
The three men left after being confronted, according to both Kerber’s account and an affidavit describing the video footage. Kerber then stood up, put the gun back in his bag, and returned to the Clover side of the street. She also claims that the fall worsened a pre-existing degenerative disc condition, resulting in two more bulging discs and requiring her to use a cane from time to time.
Police arrived within minutes and began interviewing witnesses as well as those involved in the crash. During initial questioning, Kerber told officers that he had removed a knife from his bag, not a gun, and that the firearm was in the glove box of his car. she later said reporter When I explained it to her, she was confused and shocked.
“I was so shaken up at the time that I couldn’t think straight,” she said. “At that point, I didn’t even know what had happened or what was going on.”
Kerber said: reporter She allegedly had the gun because of a “stalking” that escalated to the point where the man was kicked out of Clover. The bar owner confirmed the incident to the newspaper.
Kerber usually carried a knife instead of a gun, but after realizing he didn’t have one, he told police he had “misspoke” and handed over the bag containing the gun. She was arrested and spent two nights in the Albany County Jail before being released on bail.
Kerber is charged with aggravated assault and possession of a weapon with unlawful intent. If convicted of both charges, she could face up to 15 years in prison.
According to court testimony, neither SD nor his associates were charged in connection with the incident.
At a May 26 hearing, Kerber’s attorney, Andrew Holcomb, asked that the charges be dismissed, citing self-defense. Wyoming law prohibits threatening others with a drawn weapon unless “reasonably necessary” to protect yourself, your property, or others from serious injury. Holcomb argued that Kerber’s actions met that standard because she was pushed to the ground during the altercation.
“There was no suggestion that Mr. Kerber was the first to engage in physical action or that he was the aggressor,” Holcomb said, describing the incident as a “flirty confrontation” in which his client was outnumbered 3-1. “The only evidence is that Mr. Durham [S.D.] It was the assailant who violently pushed Kerber to the ground. ”
Albany County Prosecuting Attorney Kurt Brizius argued that the state only needs to show that there is a “high probability” that Kerber committed the crime in order to proceed to trial. But at trial, prosecutors will have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Kerber committed the crime and did not act in self-defense.
Albany County Circuit Court Judge Robert Sanford ultimately ruled that there was probable cause to believe Kerber had committed the crime and ordered the case to proceed to trial. However, he noted that Kerber was still free to claim he acted in self-defense.
Kerber said: reporter She said she believed her actions were permitted under Wyoming law because she feared she would be the victim of a hate crime and felt at risk of physical harm.
“My first hope is that the truth of the situation gets out,” she said. “My hope is that I will be found innocent and that true justice will be pursued for what happened to me.”
Source: Metro Weekly – www.metroweekly.com
