It turns out the trans woman who sparked violent protests outside Wi Spa over trans rights is a registered sex offender

We’ve told you about some of the protests outside of Wi Spa in Los Angeles, where a woman complained that a biological male exposed himself in the women-only section of the spa. Counter-protesters accused the woman and her supporters of being transphobic, and things got violent more than a few times. The Los Angeles Times wrote that “far-right rage over transgender rights” led to the chaos in front of Wi Spa.

The New York Post reports Thursday, though, that “a warrant was issued in Los Angeles County for the arrest of 52-year-old Darren Merager, of Riverside, Calif., based on five felony counts of indecent exposure in connection with the Wi Spa incident.” Oh, and this:

Law-enforcement sources revealed that Merager is a tier-one registered sex offender with two prior convictions of indecent exposure stemming from incidents in 2002 and 2003 in California. She declined to comment on the convictions. In 2008, she was convicted for failing to register as a sex offender.

Merager says “she is actually the victim of sexual harassment by transphobic women at the Wi Spa” and that “everything about the Wi Spa was a bunch of garbage and lies.”

Wi Spa: "'Merager claims to identify as female so he can access women’s locker rooms and showers,' reads an internal flyer by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department that was sent to law enforcement departments in southern California in late 2018."https://t.co/ROjlDznSEg

— Debbie Hayton 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈 (@DebbieHayton) September 2, 2021

There's a warrant for arrest of the suspect accused of felony indecent exposure at Wi Spa (victims say she was erect). The incident sparked antifa rioting & was declared a transphobic hoax. The suspect also has charges over a separate but similar incident. https://t.co/8p3w5dvGvk pic.twitter.com/b5cGzSinxe

— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) September 2, 2021

Nah. Never happens.

— rhiannon (@rhireee) September 2, 2021

“You allow [trans women] to go in there [women’s spaces] and then people simply claim indecent exposure and you’re arrested,” she [Merager] says.

“If you go into an area where you’re expected to be nude, there has to be an indecent exposure exemption,” she says.

— Matt H (@Matt_H_UK) September 2, 2021

Imagine that; the entire issue was men pretending to identifying as women to access private women areas and being a sexual deviant while doing so. And LOOKIE HERE! The exact same thing played out. 🤡

— drew, beep/bop/boop 🖤💙 (@invictusnox81) September 2, 2021

Antifa assaulted (actual) women who dared to protest the nude dude in the women's section at Wi Spa. Turns out the "trans woman" was a hoaxer known to police and a registered sex offender. The most ridiculous part of this was how @latimes sided with trans/Antifa instead of women https://t.co/W02nxtw2vk

— Joel Pollak (@joelpollak) September 2, 2021

https://twitter.com/BurtNewcastle/status/1433524114740891651

Well I, for one will sleep better tonight knowing Antifa is on the job protecting this fine, upstanding person's freedom! 😉🙃

— SwallowThePill aka WicKad Witch 🟥 (@pill_swallow) September 2, 2021

There have been weeks of protests in front of the spa, which says it was just following California law in accomodating a trans person.

Related:

Los Angeles Times explains how ‘far-right rage over transgender rights’ led to chaos in front of Wi Spa https://t.co/XYzQwOjVFQ

— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) July 20, 2021