A Washington State man has pleaded guilty to one count of committing a hate crime for an attempted arson targeting an LGBTQ nightclub in Seattle back in 2020.
According to documents filed in connection with the guilty plea, Kalvinn Garcia, 25, set fire to the contents of a dumpster in the alley directly behind Queer/Bar, an LGBTQ nightclub and event space located Seattle’s historically gay Capitol Hill neighborhood.
At the time, there were more than 50 people in the club and its event room. Flames from the blaze scorched the building’s brick exterior and forced the cancellation of events at the nightclub over the next few days.
At that time, the nightclub was also located across the alley from the Seattle Police East Precinct — which was abandoned later that year during demonstrations stemming from long-simmering tensions between protesters and the police department and sparked by the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.
The fire attracted immediate attention, and officers who were on scene observed Garcia a short distance away. Garcia attempted to flee but was apprehended.
According to case filings, Garcia was caught on surveillance video in the alley at the time flames caught and surged up the side of the building.
Following his arrest, Garcia, originally from Sedro Woolley, Washington — more than 70 miles away from Seattle — reportedly told police that he had recently become homeless, which he blamed on LGBTQ people.
According to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice, he also reportedly told police that he had set the fire and had targeted Queer/Bar because it angered him to see a sign that said “queer.” He allegedly told officers: “I think it’s wrong that we have a bunch of queers in our society.”
Garcia was originally charged in King County Superior Court with arson and a hate crime. He was released from jail due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but eventually ended up in custody of authorities in Whatcom County, where he was serving a jail sentence for theft. In November 2021, he was transferred from Whatcom County into federal custody and charged with arson for setting the fire at Queer/Bar.
On May 26, he entered a guilty plea to the hate crime charge related to the arson.
“The defendant targeted the patrons inside Queer/Bar, a known safe space for the LGBTQI+ community,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said in a statement following the guilty plea. “Hate crimes have no place in our society today and we stand ready to use our federal civil rights laws to hold perpetrators accountable. All people deserve to feel safe and secure living in their communities, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.”
“Garcia endangered countless people who he did not know and who were simply trying to live their lives, solely because of his own hatred,” U.S. Attorney Nick Brown, of the Western District of Washington, added. “We must stand up to this hate at every opportunity to demonstrate to our community that acting on hate will not be tolerated.”
“Garcia’s hateful act endangered and spread fear in the LGBTQ+ community and caused damage to this business establishment,” Donald Voiret, the Special Agent in Charge for the FBI’s Seattle Field Office, said in a statement.
“Fortunately, our partners at the Seattle Police Department were able to respond quickly to this arson. This case shows our commitment to investigating civil rights violations with our partners.”
Garcia will next appear in court on September 20 for sentencing. According to the Justice Department, he could face a sentence of up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
A California man was sentenced to five years in prison for attacking a gay fashion designer, in what prosecutors now acknowledge was a hate crime.
Jesus Rodolfo Zepeda was previously convicted of assaulting prominent fashion designer Pol' Atteu during a September 2019 charity fashion show at St. John's Cathedral in Los Angeles.
The event benefitted the Make-a-Wish Foundation and was featured in Atteu and his husband, Patrik Simpson's reality show, Gown and Out in Beverly Hills.
The attack landed Atteu in the hospital for two days with a concussion, a broken shoulder, bruises, and other injuries.
A South Carolina man was sentenced to 45 months in federal prison for obstructing an investigation related to the murder of a transgender woman.
Xavier Pinckney, 24, pleaded guilty in October to providing false and misleading information to authorities about the murder of Dime Doe, a.k.a Pebbles LaDime Doe.
Prosecutors claimed that, in December 2019, Pinckney had lied to investigators who were looking into Doe's death, and warned a friend, Daqua Lameek Ritter -- who was in New York at the time -- not to return to South Carolina because police were looking for Ritter and that someone was "snitching" about Ritter's past relationship with Doe.
A 17-year-old accused of murdering a transgender friend told police he accidentally shot the victim. Additionally, police say, he allegedly asked his parents not to call 911 after informing them of the crime.
Cesar Sandoval, of Las Vegas, faces one count of open murder, one count of open murder with the use of a deadly weapon, and one count of concealing evidence for his alleged role in the shooting death of 18-year-old Jazlynn Johnson, a transgender woman.
On May 6, around 4 a.m. Las Vegas police responded to a call from a man, later identified as Sandoval's father, that his son had shot a friend inside a vehicle. The man reportedly told dispatchers his son had come home and told his parents that he had shot his friend, but would not tell them any details about the shooting, according to a police report.
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