Zohran Mamdani pushes debunked claim of 7 anti-trans murders on X for Pride Month

New York City Democratic Mayor Zohran Mamdani shared an article on X amplifying a statistic that claimed seven transgender individuals had been killed in anti-trans violence. The article was published by Quispe López, who is a lifestyle and health editor for a digital magazine called “Them,” which calls itself the “award-winning authority on what it means to be LGBTQ+ today — and tomorrow.”

The claim was debunked by Daily Wire journalist Brecca Stoll, who found that only six cases were actually cited and law enforcement did not classify any of the six as “anti-trans” hate crimes.

The report examined each case, like Eryka Caldwell, who according to reporting done by "Them" was stabbed to death by his boyfriend Jonathan Fernandez. The Daily Wire report explained that organizers of a vigil for Caldwell did not view his murder as anti-trans violence, with an organizer alluding to domestic violence rather than anti-trans violence.

The report pointed to similar examples presented by Them, including a man named Shyyell Diamond Sanchez-McCray, who was shot inside a home. It was made clear that authorities had not officially announced a motive, making the hate crime attribution sloppy at best.

The outlet went systematically through the rest of the supposed anti-trans deaths in the article, demonstrating that each one was not applicable to the wide-reaching anti-trans hate crime Them had claimed. 

This comes as Mamdani on X on June 1 wrote: “It would take far more than a month to honor the contributions of queer and transgender New Yorkers.”

He went on to attack the Reagan administration, writing: “queer people fought for their lives while the Reagan administration looked away, New York City's history has long been shaped by queer and trans New Yorkers.”