The Trump administration says it’s pulling “non-essential” funding from the Maine prison system because it’s housing a transgender person in a women’s prison.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi made the announcement Tuesday morning during an appearance on “Fox and Friends.”
“A giant 6 foot-one, 245-pound guy who committed a double murder with a knife, stabbed his parents to death and the family dog, and he identified as a woman,” said Bondi.
The transgender inmate was convicted of murdering her parents in 2016 at age 17.
It’s not clear how much Maine prison funding is being withheld and what programs it may affect.
The Bangor Daily News reports 26-year-old Andrea Balcer pleaded guilty in 2018 after telling a psychologist she didn’t believe her parents would accept her as a trans woman and that led to the slayings.
Balcer was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
The Maine Department of Corrections allows inmates to live as the gender they identify as after receiving a gender dysphoria diagnosis. A team of medical personnel are required to determine it’s in the inmate’s best interest.
The Daily News reports it took Balcer four years to complete that process, and she was moved to the Maine Correctional Center in Windham in 2021.
Balcer won’t be eligible for release until 2051, according to the Maine Department of Corrections’ website.
