Warning: This story contains references to torture and violence.
Sam Nordquist, 24, the brutal murder of a transgender man who was tortured in New York State for more than a month after tortured by criminal law enforcement, called it “beyond the Depravity” and sparked 2SLGBTQ+ community mourning in the United States and Canada.
Although the horrible details of the case have been scrutinized by officials and transgender advocates, police warned speculation about the offender’s motives said there was no evidence at this stage that it was a hate crime – pointing out that the suspect and Nordquist knew each other and identified as 2SLGBTQ+.
But as the investigation is conducted in the context of Trump administration’s legal protections for trans people, trans people show that it is crucial to examine all motivations for crime when members of their community are particularly vulnerable.
According to the Depraved Indifference Regulations, seven people have been charged with second-degree murder, including a woman believed to be an online girlfriend who Nordquist went to see in New York.
Since early December, Nordquist was subjected to “repeated acts of violence and torture” that resulted in his death.
“This is one of the most terrible crimes I have ever investigated in my 20-year law enforcement career.”
Missing persons become homicide
Nordquist originally traveled to New York from his hometown of Minnesota in September 2024 and contacted his family in late January 2025.
On February 9, days after police were officially recorded as missing, police searched a motel in Cannandaga, New York, where Nordquist had been living with several others before finding his body found in a field near Yates County.
Nordquist was “experienced physical and psychological abuse in the hands of multiple people for a long time,” Swift said.
“The facts and circumstances of this crime have fallen,” Ontario District Attorney Jim Ritts said in a press conference. “No one should endure Sam’s endurance.”
Nordquist’s mother Linda Nordquist told NBC News Her son went to New York and saw his former partner, Arzuaga, 38, one of seven suspects who died in Nordquist.
Hate the debate on crime
In response to the public, the New York State Police and the Ontario District Attorney’s Office review issued a joint statement on February 16 announcing that they currently have no “no signs” that the murder is a hate crime.
“To alleviate his murder could be a hate crime, we revealed that Sam and his assailants knew each other and were identified as LGBTQ+, and at least one defendant lived with Sam at the time of “death,” the statement shared with the CBC News Reading.
It added that the police “share the community’s shock at this heinous act of violence and understand the fear among members of the LGBTQ+ community,” and will follow all prospects.
However, the police statement still leaves many questions and responds to the “misunderstanding” of hate crimes that strangers must commit.
She said the so-called perpetrators are part of the 2SLGBTQ+ community, and there is no possibility that phobia is the motive for Nordquist’s murder.
“Even in that bunch of communities, there is anti-trans sentiment.”
Under New York State law, hate crimes are crimes committed “all or most” due to beliefs or perceptions of race, gender, religion, gender identity, or gender expression.
Perry said the need to prove that bias plays a “substantial” part could increase the difficulty of clarifying it as a hate crime.
It is unclear whether a legal advantage would be offered in this case; Perry said the designation of hate crimes could increase the seriousness of smaller crimes, such as harassment or assault, and trigger a tougher sentence, but in murder cases, prosecutors are already seeking the highest penalty.
Perry said that despite this, many members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community wanted to be more transparent about the decision not to investigate Nordquist’s death as a hate crime, adding that it was “a very important statement to the community that shows that its ripple effect has been acknowledged”.
“We’ve seen a lot of activities online complaining about the police response,” she said.
“I think that creates a need for change, but it also creates and exacerbates the fear that already exists.”
On Monday, people gathered outside the Ontario County Courthouse, calling for justice. Last Friday, the New York City Pflag NYC and Pride Agenda held a memorial vigil near Manhattan in the West Village, where hundreds of people packed into churches to lay flowers and mourn.
On Friday night, people gathered on the steps of the Manitoba Legislature to pray for the three who died recently in the United States and light candles. Organizers say people on both sides of the border are suffering from growing rhetoric and violence.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul says A statement On February 16, she “instructed the state police to provide any and all support and resources to district attorneys as they continue their investigations, including whether this is a hate crime.”
2SLGBTQ+ advocates point out that the case highlights the risk of violence faced by Trans People regardless of whether the police consider Nordquist’s murder a hate crime.
“About 30% of trans homicides in the past year have been committed by people who are known to the victims, including intimate partners.” Press release.
“approve”
Since taking office in January, the murders have attacked transgender rights in the United States, Donald Trump repealed executive orders to discriminate against 2SLGBTQ+ people, declared that the United States would only recognize gender, and signed the signed order without signing trans women who participated in women’s sports, and was accompanied by women for their sports, and sentenced people under 19 for being sentenced to people under 19, a judge.
Dean Spade, a professor at Seattle University’s Law School, told CBC News that the court’s challenge has been stuck in many Trump’s execution orders, but it’s still “very scary time” for trans people.
“In some ways, the private violence that is happening now is state-sanctioned because there is such a narrative that our lives are worthless and we deal with it,” he said.
But while naming anti-transactional violence is important, hate crime convictions are not easy to use in preventing physical harm to trans people, noting that the criminal justice system is often one of the main culprits of the said harm. 2024 analyze The ACLU found that more than a quarter of transgender people surveyed reported that police experienced physical strength.
“If we really want to prevent violence against trans people, we will strive to increase housing, income support, access to health care and basic necessities,” he said.
“The idea of hate crime law relies on the image of a stranger to you, and if the police catch them we will take them to the streets and then we will all be safer…. Actually, it’s systemic. It’s the whole society.”
If you are affected by this news, you can Resources in your province or region.
