Warning: This story contains torture and violence.
The 4 -year -old brutal killing of Sam Nordquettist, a transgender man who was killed in New York State after being tortured for more than a month in the application of the crime law called “beyond chaos”, sparked celebrations throughout the United States and in Canada as 2LGBTQ+ community societies.
Although the terrible details of the case attracted the audit of officials and transit defenders, the police warn against speculation about the motives of the perpetrators, saying that there is no evidence at this stage that this is a hate crime – I noticed that the suspects and Nordquist know each other and determine 2LGBTQ+.
However, with the development of the investigation against the backdrop of the Trump administration’s discounts to the legal protection of converting persons, transit defenders suggest that it is important to examine all the motives of the crime at a time when their community members are particularly vulnerable.
Seven people were accused of second -class death under the Law of the corrupt indifference, including a woman who is believed to be a friend of the Internet to which Nordquist went to New York.
Kelly Swift, commander of the Criminal Investigation Office with New York State Police, said at a press conference on February 14 that Nordquest was subjected to “repeated violence and torture”, which led to his death, the commander of the Criminal Investigation Office with New York State Police, at a press conference on February 14.
“In my 20 -year -old law in the field of law, this is one of the most horrific crimes that I have ever achieved,” Swift told reporters.
The issue of missing persons becomes a murder case
Nordquist originally traveled from the Mother’s state of Minnesota to New York in September 2024, and was the last in contact with family members at the end of January 2025.
A few days after it was officially registered in the missing on February 9, the police searched a hotel in Canandaugua, New York, where Nordquist was staying with many other people, and later discovered his remains in a field in the neighboring Yates province.
Swift said that Nordquette was “subjected to a” long -term abuse and psychological treatment at the hands of multiple individuals “, and his body was transferred in an attempt to hide the crime.
“The facts and circumstances of this crime go beyond,” Jim Rits said at the press conference. “No person should bear what Sam holds.”
Nordquett’s mother told Linda Nordquetst, NBC News Her son went to New York to see his former partner, the 38 -year -old Arzuaga, one of the seven suspects of Nordquist.
Discussion hate crime
In response to the audience, New York State Police and the Office of the Ontario Provincial Prosecutor issued a joint statement on February 16, announcing that “they currently do not have any indication that the murder was a hate crime.
“To help reduce anxiety concept that his death can be a hate crime, we reveal that Sam and his attackers were known to each other, known as LGBTQ+, and at least one of the defendants living with Sam in the time period before” his death, the statement participates with CBC news.
He added that the police “share the shock of society in such a heinous act of violence and understand the fear circulating among members of the LGBTQ+community”, and all strands will follow the motive behind what happened.
Barbara Perry, a hate crime expert and director of the Hate, Bias and Extremism Center at Ontario Technology University, said that the police statement still leaves many questions without answering and addressing the “wrong belief” that hate crimes should be committed by strangers.
She said that the alleged perpetrators are part of the 2SLGBTQ community+ also does not eliminate the possibility that Tranfobia was a stimulating factor in the killing of Nordquest.
“Even within those wide packages of societies, there are also the prevention of TRS.”
Under the New York State Law, the crime of hatred is a crime committed “completely or in a large part” due to the belief or perception of race, sex, religion, sexual identity or sexual expression, among other groups.
Perry said that the need to prove that the bias played a “large” part may add it to the difficulty of clarifying this as a hate crime.
It is not clear whether it will provide a legal advantage in this issue; Perry said that naming the crime of hatred can increase the seriousness of a lesser crime such as harassment or attack and leads to a more severe punishment, but in the murder case, prosecutors will already seek to obtain the maximum penalty.
However, many members of the 2SLGBTQ community+ want more transparency about the decision not to investigate the death of Nordkequist as a hate crime, adding that it is “a very important statement of society that the effects of ripples have been recognized.”
“We are witnessing a lot of activity on the Internet complaining about the police response,” she said.
“This is a kind of demand created for change, I think, but it was also created and the already existed fear.”
On Monday, people gathered outside the Ontario Provincial Court, and called for justice. PFLAG NYC and the priority agenda held the ink pause last Friday in the Manhattan neighborhood of West Felidg, with hundreds mobilized in the church to put flowers and mourning.
People gathered on the steps of the legislative body in Manitoba on Friday night to pray and candle light for three people who recently died in the United States. Organizers say that people on both sides of the border are harmful by high rhetoric and violence by phobia.
New York Governor Cathy Hochol said in statement On February 16, “state police directed to provide any support and resources to the provincial lawyer as they continue to achieve them, including whether this is a hate crime.”
Note 2slgbtq+ advocates that, regardless of whether the police consider the killing of Nordquets a hate crime, the case highlights the risks of violence faced by converted people.
“About 30 percent of the transit murder crimes were committed by a person known to the victim-including intimate partners,” said the Violence Project on February 16. press release.
“The state is punished”
The killing comes amid a wave of legislative attacks on transit rights in the United States since it took office in January, and US President Donald Trump has canceled executive orders to combat discrimination against 2SLGBTQ+ people, and announced that the United States will only learn about two sexes and their recent signature through wisdom in federations by participating in sport in sport that ends in its genus.
Dean Speed, a professor at Seattle University of Law, said that the challenges of the court have stopped a number of Trump’s executive orders, but are still “really frightening time” for transgender people.
“In some respects, the special violence that is happening now is the approval of the state, because there is a narration that comes directly from the government to the extent that our lives are of no value and that we are drawing,” he said.
But although it is important to name anti -two vehicles, the condemnation of the crime of hatred does only a little to prevent physical harm against converting persons, noting that the criminal justice system is often one of the main perpetrators in the mentioned damage. 2024 analysis By the American Civil Liberties Union, it was found that more than one of every four converted people who were surveyed reported that they were subjected to physical strength by the police.
“If we really want to prevent violence against converting people, we will fight to increase housing, increase income support, and access health care and basic necessities,” he said.
“The idea of hate crime laws depends on this image of a person strange to you, if the police throw them off, we will get them out of the streets and then we will be safer … when that is actually. It is all over our entire society.”
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