Man sentenced to 4 years for setting fire targeting Seattle LGBTQI+ nightclub

SEATTLE — A federal court sentenced 26-year-old Kalvinn Garcia to four years in prison for a hate crime targeting a LGBTQI+ nightclub in Seattle.

Garcia pleaded guilty to setting a dumpster on the fire in the alley behind Queer/Bar in the city’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. He admitted to police that he set the fire as a targeted attack against the the LGBTQI+ community, and that his intention was to “trap and hurt the people inside.”

“Bias-motivated violence runs contrary to our values and violates our federal civil rights laws,” U.S. Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in a news release. “This sentence should send the message that every person in our nation deserves equal protection under the law regardless of who they love or how they identify and that those carrying out similar acts of violence against the LGBTQI+ community will be brought to justice.”

At the sentencing, U.S. District Court Judge John C. Coughenour further noted that the “potential for panic and trampling and death is incredible.”

“Hate is hate, whether it is impacted by mental health or not,” he added.

©2023 Cox Media Group