![]() The Justice Department will continue to vigorously prosecute hate crimes, which not only target individuals for harm, but also deny entire communities the promises of true freedom and equal protection.” But this guilty plea sends an unequivocal message that violence based on one’s gender identity violates America’s defining values of inclusivity and dignity. “No conviction, even such a historic one, can relieve the grief and anguish facing this victim’s family. “Congress passed the Shepard-Byrd Act to protect our most vulnerable communities, including the transgender community, from harm,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Gupta. By holding accountable the perpetrator of this heinous deed, we reinforce our commitment to ensuring justice for all Americans.” While Mississippi convicted the defendant on murder charges, we believe in the fundamental value of identifying and prosecuting these bias-fueled incidents for what they are: acts of hate. “Today’s landmark guilty plea reaffirms that basic principle, and it signals the Justice Department’s determination to combat hate crimes based on gender identity. “Our nation’s hate crime statutes advance one of our fundamental beliefs: that no one should have to live in fear because of who they are,” said Attorney General Lynch. Davis of the Southern District of Mississippi and Special Agent in Charge Christopher Freeze of the FBI’s Jackson Division. Lynch Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division U.S. The plea was announced by Attorney General Loretta E. Vallum was charged with violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Williamson was 17 years old and resided in Alabama at the time of her death. Joshua Brandon Vallum, 29, of Lucedale, Mississippi, pleaded guilty today to a federal hate crime for assaulting and murdering Mercedes Williamson because she was a transgender woman. Hate Crimes Prevention Act Where Victim was Targeted Because of Gender Identity ![]() This article was amended on to clarify that Joshua Vallum was not the first American to be prosecuted for a transgender hate crime – although he was the first to be successfully prosecuted for a transgender hate crime under the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, a federal law that was introduced by Barack Obama in 2009.First Case Prosecuted under the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr.Last week, a Virginia state court angered LGBT activists by ruling that attacks motivated by the victim’s sexual orientation could not be prosecuted as hate crime under the state’s law. Vallum had previously been sentenced to life in prison in a state court for the same murder.īut federal prosecutors brought an additional lawsuit for hate crime because Mississippi lacks a statute protecting people against hate crimes based on their gender identity, the Department of Justice said.Īccording to a 2015 NCTE survey, nearly one in 10 US trans people said they had been physically attacked because of being transgender in the year prior to completing the survey. “Today’s sentencing reflects the importance of holding individuals accountable when they commit violent acts against transgender individuals,” said attorney general Jeff Sessions in a statement. This was the first case where a victim had been targeted because of gender identity that had been prosecuted under the US federal hate crime law, the Department of Justice said in a statement. He struck deadly blows to Williamson’s head with a hammer after she tried running away, prosecutors said. He decided to kill Williamson, fearing that he could face retribution from other gang members if word spread she was a transgender woman, prosecutors said.Īfter luring his former lover to his father’s home in Mississippi, Vallum shocked Williamson with a stun gun before stabbing her repeatedly with a pocket knife. Vallum, a member of the Latin Kings street gang, believed to the largest Hispanic gang in the United States, secretly dated Williamson during the summer of 2014, according to prosecutors. In 2009, Congress expanded a federal hate crime law to include crimes motivated by a victim’s sexual orientation among other factors. “It’s essential that biased crime against trans people be recognized as a serious national problem,” she said in a phone interview. Harper Jean Tobin, spokeswoman for the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE), a Washington DC advocacy group, said the murder was part of an “epidemic of violence against transgender people” in the United States. The 29-year-old man appeared in Gulfport, Mississippi before a federal judge who could have imposed a maximum sentence of life without parole.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |