- The Justice Department is sending a federal hate crimes lawyer, Christopher Perras, to Iowa to help prosecute the killing of a transgender person last year
- The case involves 23-year-old Jorge Sanders-Galvez. He is charged with killing 16-year-old Kedarie (Kandicee) Johnson in Burlington, Iowa, in March 2016
- Authorities have not disclosed a motive. But Johnson’s relatives tell local news outlets they believe the shooting was a hate crime
- The Sanders-Galvez trial will start on October 24
- LGBT advocates have long been skeptical of Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ pledge to prosecute acts of violence against transgender people
The Justice Department is sending a federal hate crimes lawyer to Iowa to help prosecute a man charged with killing a transgender teenager last year.
The case involves 23-year-old Jorge Sanders-Galvez. He is charged with killing 16-year-old Kedarie Johnson in Burlington, Iowa, in March 2016.
His family and friends had disclosed that he was gay, identified as both male and female and went by the name Kandicee.
The Justice Department is sending a federal hate crimes lawyer, Christopher Perras, to Iowa to help prosecute the killing of a transgender person last year. The case involves 23-year-old Jorge Sanders-Galvez. He is charged with killing 16-year-old Kedarie (Kandicee) Johnson in Burlington, Iowa, in March 2016
A Justice Department lawyer, Christopher Perras, will act as the prosecutor on the case.
Authorities have not disclosed a motive. But Johnson’s relatives tell local news outlets they believe the shooting was a hate crime.
‘This is just one example of the attorney general’s commitment to enforcing the laws enacted by Congress and to protecting the civil rights of all individuals,’ said Devin O’Malley, a spokesman for the Justice Department, to the New York Times.
Authorities have not disclosed a motive. But Johnson’s relatives tell local news outlets they believe the shooting was a hate crime
LGBT advocates have long been skeptical of Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ pledge to prosecute acts of violence against transgender people
The Sanders-Galvez trial will start on October 24.
LGBT advocates have long been skeptical of Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ pledge to prosecute acts of violence against transgender people.
But the rare move, outlined in recently filed court papers, is a sign he intends to do so even as the Trump administration has taken other steps to erode the rights of transgender people broadly. The New York Times first reported the decision Sunday.
In October, Sessions rolled back on an Obama-era policy aiding in the protection of transgender folks in the workplace that existed under the Civil Rights Act.
And while he has vowed to focus on hate crimes involving transgender people, Sessions did rescind a policy allowing them to use the bathroom they desired.