By Daphne Barroeta
February 28, 2025

On Feb. 14, police in Canandaigua, New York, found the dead body of Sam Nordquist, a 26-year-old trans man of color, after he endured several months of torture. Canandaigua is about 30 miles southeast of Rochester. Memorial vigils have been held in multiple New York cities and towns.

The pigs who identified and apprehended Nordquist’s killers made the claim that his death could not be a hate crime. The Ontario County District Attorney’s Office stated that, “His assailants were known to each other, identified as LGBTQ+, and at least one of the defendants lived with Sam in the time period leading up to the instant offense.” (AP, Feb. 18)

As of Feb 23, seven people in total have been charged in connection with the death of Nordquist.

According to Nordquist’s family, the state failed to conduct a wellness check when they became suspicious that he was facing some kind of harm from his former partner Precious Arzuaga. Sam Nordquist’s mother, Linda Nordquist, said that Nordquist failed to show up for an appointment with the Department of Social Services on Dec. 4 for the purpose of creating an “escape plan.” (NBC News, Feb. 23)

Unfortunately, the “criminal justice system” of the capitalist ruling class has a long history of failing to correctly identify and prosecute hate crimes as well as domestic violence, especially when the victim experiences multiple oppressions. Anyone within our class, regardless of identity or oppression, can commit acts of bigotry and violence against our trans siblings of color.

Some of Nordquist’s killers being queer and some people of color does not change the violence he endured nor the malice behind it — and it does not change the fact that under the current capitalist class society, victims of hate crimes and their families struggle to receive justice.

We have a responsibility to all working-class and oppressed people — especially those who are murdered or die from preventable deaths — to fight against all the evils of class society, such as white supremacy, ableism and cis-hetero-patriarchy, just to name a few. We also need to combat the capitalistic idea of “ownership” within our relations to each other, as this leads to insecurity, instability and potentially even violence.