Responding to the reports that Allen Andrade was found guilty of both first-degree murder and of a bias motivated crime in the killing of Angie Zapata, a transgender teenager, ADL applauded the prosecution and the Greeley jury.

“Hate crimes, such as the murder of Angie Zapata, resonate throughout the victim’s community and threaten the safety and well-being of all who live there,” said Bruce H. DeBoskey, ADL’s Mountain States Regional Director. “By finding Andrade guilty of a bias-motivated crime in addition to first-degree murder, the prosecution and jury have recognized that hate crimes are unique because their impact reaches far beyond the individual victim of the crime.

This Greeley jury has sent a clear and important message that all people, regardless of their gender identity, are welcome and safe in Colorado and that the perpetrators of hate crimes will be fully prosecuted under Colorado’s Bias-Motivated Crimes Law. This verdict also underscores the need for a Federal Hate Crimes Law, now under consideration by the U.S. Congress, because there are states across the country which do not have comprehensive hate crimes laws like that which we have in Colorado.”