Two Puerto Rican men were given federal charges of conspiracy to commit a hate crime and obstruction of justice, which resulted from an assault with an unsafe weapon against opportunistic transgender girl because of her sex personality, and were now given sentences of 33 months in prison and three years of supervised release each.
According to Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division,” the accused have been held responsible for assaulting a Latina transgender person due to her gender identity and then attempting to impede an investigation into that assault.” No one should have to live in fear of crime motivated by hatred because of who they are. People who target LGBTQI+ individuals with violent acts or who attempt to hinder investigations into these heinous acts are to be investigated and prosecuted by the Justice Department. We hope that this trial shows LGBTQI+ victims and survivors that we care about them and will defend them when hate-fueled crime targets them.
According to U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow for the District of Puerto Rico,” The defendants ‘ attack endangered and terrified their victim, and such actions have no place in our community.” ” Bias-motivated violence violates federal civil rights laws in addition to running counter to our values.” We are committed to using every resource at our disposal to protect the life, health, and dignity of this community because we are aware of the very real threats and acts of violence that the LGBTQI+ community faces. All victims of hate crimes will continue to face justice from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which will also rapidly sue anyone who engages in hate-fueled murder.
Special Agent in Charge Joseph Gonzalez of the FBI San Juan Field Office stated that “every people being should be treated with respect and dignity.” When it comes to hatred acts, there are no small offenses. Anyone who has witnessed or been the victim of a hate crime is asked to report it by calling their local FBI field office or by leaving an online hint through tips. The FBI reiterates its location that there should be no tolerance for hatred. police. gov.
According to judge records, on February 24, 2020, at around 12:29 a.m. ET, Jordany Rafael Laboy-Garcia and Christian Yamaurie Rivera-Otero, along with their original co-defendant Anthony Steven Lobos-Ruiz, were out driving along in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, when they spotted the victim, who was identified as A. N. L., standing under some camp close to the side of the road. The plaintiffs recognized A. N. L. from social media posts about a McDonald’s incident that happened the day before in Toa Baja. A. N. L. had used a room kiosk at McDonald’s during that event.
When Lobos-Ruiz recognized A. N. L., he used his phone to take a picture of himself yelling, “la loca, la loco,” as well as other derogatory and ominous remarks to him from inside the vehicle. The defendants finally made the decision to film another phone picture while shooting A. N. L. with a paintball gun. They went back to where they had last seen A. N. L., who was still there, after retrieving a paint gun after 30 days. Finally, Lobos-Ruiz recorded Laboy-Garcia firing the airsoft gun at A. N. L. several times using his phone. Lobos Ruiz distributed the phone video recordings to others after the attack was over.
A few hours later, Rivera-Otero and Lobos-Ruiz sent each different text messages instructing them to remove any information of their abuse and paintball-gun attack on A. N. L. in order to hide their involvement. Following this information exchange, Lobos-Ruiz deleted the movies of himself shouting at A. N. L. and Laboy-Garcia firing paintballs at the city.
Laboy-Garcia admitted that he shot paintballs at A. N. L. because she was and was perceived to be transgender as part of the plea deal and pleaded guilty to conspiring to undertake a hate crime. Rivera-Otero admitted to ordering his co-defendant to erase video recordings of the distorted assault and abuse of A. N. L. and entered a guilty plea to obstruction of justice.
Lobos-Ruiz recently admitted to participating in the assault of A. N. L. because she was and was perceived to be transgender, and he was given a 33-month prison sentence. He also admitted guilt to the hate crime.
The situation was looked into by the FBI San Juan Field Office.
The situation was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jose A. Contreras from the District of Puerto Rico and Trial Attorney Laura Gilson of the Criminal Division.
