Danai Nest Kupemda

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Two men arrested after Black gay teen found dead on New York City train tracks

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Two men have been arrested in connection with the cold-blooded murder of a Black gay teenager who was shot and left burning on freight train tracks in Brooklyn, New York in February.

Isiah Baez, 19, was taken into custody by the New York Police Department (NYPD) on Thursday (11 May) and charged with murder, criminal possession of a weapon and tampering with physical evidence in the murder of 19-year-old DeAndre Matthews.

Baez is the second person to be arrested for the killing of Matthews. His accomplice Remy McPrecia, 24, was arrested on 4 May and charged with concealing a corpse and evidence tampering.

Following news of the arrest, Matthews’ mother, Danielle Matthews, told News 12 the Bronx that Baez “deserves any and everything that he gets”.

“He deserves every day to rot in that jail,” she said.

DeAndre studied criminal justice at SUNY Broome Community College and he was paying his way through school by working at Buggy Service Center, where pushchairs are repaired and cleaned. His mother described him as a “beautiful soul”.

“He was just a beautiful soul. He was a great kid. Never had police contact. First in my family to go to college. He was amazing.”

Matthews was last seen on 6 February. On the day of his disappearance, he left work and went home to borrow his mother’s car to go out.

His mother’s Jeep Cherokee was found burned the next day, leading to the discovery of his body.

Police found him dead from a gunshot wound to the head, with “significant burn wounds throughout his body”, lying on train tracks close to Brooklyn College. Matthews also showed signs of smoke inhalation, police said.

The police are yet to establish a motive for the murder of Matthews, although they found evidence that Baez and DeAndre had been communicating for a year and pictures of the two of them were on Matthews’ phone.

His mother told Daily News that she believes her son was killed because Baez was “hiding his true identity”.

Matthews’ sister, Dajanae Gillespie, told NBC New York that his murder was likely due to his sexuality.

“He was gay. And I feel as if this could’ve been a hate crime. I want to know why [the killer] did it. What was the reason? 

“DeAndre wasn’t a violent person. This wasn’t for retaliation. He wasn’t in the streets,” she said. 

Anyone who has witnessed or experienced a hate crime is urged to call the police on 101, Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or visit theTrue Vision website. In an emergency, always dial 999.

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Hate crimes expected to spike during 2024 presidential race, worrying new study shows

A new report warns that hate crimes will likely increase during the 2024 presidential race for the White House as groups including neo-Nazis attempt to “wage war on democracy”.

The study, conducted by civil rights group The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights (LCEF), analysed FBI hate crime data from the the last 15 years.

An “unmistakable pattern” has emerged during the last four presidential campaign cycles, showing that reported hate crimes increase during elections.

The report found that the current climate is “rife with opportunities for the trend of increased hate to continue” in the 2024 election.

LCEF’s chief executive Maya Wiley told Black Entertainment Television (BET) that this “shows an extremely disturbing and sadly not so surprising trend”.

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In 2008, the historic election of Barack Obama, first Black president of the United States, sparked an increase in anti-Black hate crimes, the rise of an “anti-government militia movement” and increased organising of neo-Nazi groups, according to the report.

This only worsened when Donald Trump ran for president in 2016 as he “empowered white nationalists and provided them with a platform”.

The month Trump was elected, hate crimes in the US were the highest in more than a decade.

Republican president Donald Trump wears a suit and tie as he holds both his hands up near his head in the shape of fists
Indicted former president Donald Trump. (Getty)

Michael Lieberman, senior policy counsel on hate and extremism at the Southern Poverty Law Center, and co-author of previous LCEF hate crime reports, told African American media network theGrio that Trump’s election elevated hate crimes in the United States.

“Only the perpetrator of a hate crime is responsible for reported crimes, but there’s absolutely no doubt that words matter and that Trump as a candidate, and then as president, was involved in anti-semitic, racist dog whistles [and] xenophobia,” Lieberman said. 

Between 2020 and 2021, when Donald Trump and Joe Biden were both running for president, the highest number of hate crimes were reported since the FBI began publishing data in 1991, particularly against the LGBTQ+ community.

In that period, violence against LGBTQ+ groups increased by 54 per cent, anti-lesbian hate crimes increased by more than 80 per cent and anti-gay hate crimes increased by 40 per cent.

Reported hate crimes based on gender identity increased nearly 30 per cent from 2020 to 2021, with a 15 per cent increase in reported hate crimes targeting transgender individuals.

The LCEF report also highlights that a “small number of well-funded and well-organised proponents of bigotry and hate are having an outsized effect relative to their actual numbers” and have succeed in turning “hate into campaign platforms”.

This is evident with in the case of Florida’s governor Ron DeSantis, who is responsible for numerous anti-LGBTQ+ bills in the state, and is tipped to announce his run as a presidential candidate in the 2024 election.

Lieberman stressed that “censorship, the book banning, the anti-trans legislation is very harmful and has a real impact.”

Also speaking to theGrio, Wiley highlighted the impact of neo-Nazi groups in their attempt to “wage war on our democracy” by silencing marginalised groups through violence.

“In some cases, groups are trying to incite civil war and are actively looking for opportunities to both thwart people they hate from being able to participate and have a voice in deciding who leads us,” she said.

Wiley also stated that the compiled data should be used to “get ahead” of the incoming violence that is likely to occur during the 2024 presidential campaign.

“It would be wrong to not take this data and recognise that we have to assume it will increase again in this election cycle and that we have the opportunity to get out ahead of it, to prepare for it and to reduce it.”

Neo-nazi groups have been classified by the FBI as “the greatest domestic threat to the United States”.

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LGBTQ+ refugees face deportation from Kenya under cruel new anti-homosexuality bill

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LGBTQ+ refugees and asylum seekers in Kenya face the threat of deportation if proposed anti-homosexuality laws are passed in parliament. 

Homosexuality is already illegal in Kenya, but the the Family Protection Bill 2023 would expand upon these laws, meaning LGBTQ+ people would face life sentences for simply identifying as themselves.

If passed, the bill would impose a jail term of no less than five years on people found guilty of assembling, picketing, promoting or supporting LGBTQ-specific activities. 

This would be dire not only for Kenyans, but refugees as well. The proposed bill would also allow for “the expulsion of refugees and asylum seekers” who identify as LGBTQ+. 

Kenya is home to half a million refugees in camps across the country from Kakuma and Dadaab, according to Washington Blade. Refugees and asylum seekers in Kenya are mainly from Burundi, Somalia, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, countries that have endured war, famine and economic instability.

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Prior to this bill, Kenya was the only country in the region accepting refugee and asylum seekers without asking about their sexuality.

Recently, however, there have been increased attacks against LGBTQ+ people in the camps, especially in Kakuma, Kenya’s largest camp. 

Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya. (Getty Images)

A report conducted by the Organisation for Refuge, Asylum and Migration (ORAM) found that 83 per cent of LGBTQ+ refugees at Kakuma experienced physical violence due to their sexual orientation, with 26 per cent reporting sexual assault.

The report includes the horrific experience of a trans refugee living in the camps, who shared that they were forced to have sex with a woman.

“They forced me to have sex with the lady. They then lectured me on the need to get married and have children of my own. They left me traumatized. Two days later they asked the lady to come and stay with me as my wife. 

“That is when I escaped from the block and moved to live with a friend in an area far from my allocated shelter. I did not report the incident since I was afraid the police would equally stigmatise me for who I am.”

There are currently 300 LGBTQ+ refugees in Kakuma who have started an online petition, pleading with the Kenyan government to stamp out discrimination and address the mistreatment they’ve been dealing with in the camps.

The petition reads: “As refugees who have sought safety and refuge from conflict and persecution, we should not have to endure further suffering and discrimination within the confines of the camp. Yet, this is the reality for many of us. 

“We are subjected to brutal attacks and physical violence from fellow refugees who hold homophobic views, leaving us with deep wounds and scars that often result in physical disability. Some of our community members have even lost their lives in these attacks.”

The proposed bill will only worsen their lives and leave them with nowhere to go.

This shocking new bill comes after Kenya’s Supreme Court recently ruled in favour of an LGBTQ+ rights group.

President of Kenya William Ruto, however, slammed this ruling and said: “It is not possible for our country Kenya to allow same-sex marriages … It will happen in other countries but not in Kenya.”

Anti-homosexuality laws have increased across the African continent as more countries introduce oppressive laws that target LGBTQ+ people. 

Uganda has been leading the charge against queer people with their Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which could see people jailed or executed for committing “homosexual acts”.

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Monkeypox could have been circulating undetected in the UK since 2018, WHO scientist says

A World Health Organization (WHO) expert has suggested that monkeypox may have been present in the UK for years.

Officials confirmed on Wednesday (25 May) that UK cases now stand at 78, a rise of 58 in just under a week.

Monkeypox has caused alarm in many Western countries. It has typically been a disease found in west and central Africa, with only eight previous cases ever reported in the UK, all since 2018 and related to travel to or from Nigeria, according to WHO.

While the first official case of the current outbreak was reported on 4 May, professor David Heyman, a WHO expert who chairs the infectious disease group, told The Guardian that the virus has possibly been circulating undetected in the UK since between 2018 and 2019.

“It could hypothetically be that the virus transmission amplified from this low level of transmission when by chance it entered the population that is at present amplifying transmission,” he said.

Monkeypox lesions
Monkeypox lesions. (Getty/ CDC)

Professor Heyman stressed that this theory was not yet conclusive and more research would be required.

A virologist from the University of Leuven in Belgium, Professor Marc Van Ranst, backed Heyman’s theory. He told The Guardian: “This may be a virus that’s been circulating undetected for quite a while.”

He added: “They all have a common ancestor and that common ancestor probably dates back to 2019, though it’s too early to date with any kind of accuracy.”

The UK Health Security Agency has confirmed that a large proportion of cases have been detected among gay, bisexual and men who sleep with men.

However, experts have been clear that monkeypox “is not a gay disease”, and have warned against stigmatising queer communities.

WHO has reiterated in statement that “monkeypox is not limited to men who have sex with men”.

Monkeypox is spread through close physical contact which can include kissing, oral sex, penetrative and even simply touching someone who has symptoms.

Symptoms include swollen lymph nodes, a rash, headaches, muscle aches and low energy.

The UK is contacting tracing cases, and those at risk are being advised to isolate for 21 days.

Those in close contact with a person with monkeypox symptoms can protect themselves by washing their hands, wearing a mask and avoiding skin to skin contact, WHO says.