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On 13 May 2016, Chicago news outlet WLS-TV reported that a man was arrested for allegedly choking a young girl in the bathroom of a deli: The report included a statement from Jason's Deli in Chicago, as well as information about the charges Hartstirn faced: Almost immediately, web sites began conflating the alleged assault with controversies about transgender bathroom access. On 14 May 2016, one web site published an article that suggested the assault was somehow linked with such policies: Others linked the incident to a May 2016 joint letter from the U.S. Department of Education and the Justice Department, which set out guidelines for dealing with transgender students and bathroom use. The articles reported that the assault was the direct result of new policies: The incident and how it was reported bore similarities to an alleged April 2016 bathroom assault in Pennsylvania, as well as the republication of an incident from California in 2013 (widely misreported as having occurred in 2016). In both incidents, a male assailant entered a women's restroom without permission, and engaged in activities already prohibited under law. Similar incidents took place at least twice in 2011, again in 2012, and three more times in 2013. In those cases, all incidents remained newsworthy because filming people in bathrooms without their knowledge or consent is illegal. No policies allowing individuals to use the bathroom that matches their gender identity made it legal to film, photograph, choke, assault, or otherwise harm fellow restroom patrons while using the facilities.
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