Murder of Blaze Bernstein

Murder of Blaze Bernstein
Part of antisemitism in the United States and violence against LGBT people in the United States
Blaze Bernstein
LocationLake Forest, California, U.S.
DateJanuary 2, 2018 (2018-01-02)
PST (UTC-08:00)
Attack type
Murder by stabbing, hate crime
WeaponKnife
VictimBlaze Bernstein
PerpetratorSamuel Woodward
MotiveNeo-Nazism, Anti-LGBT extremism, Antisemitism
ConvictionsFirst-degree murder

On January 2, 2018, 19-year-old University of Pennsylvania sophomore Blaze Bernstein was killed after leaving home to meet an acquaintance at a park in California. Authorities later charged his former high school classmate Samuel Woodward with the murder, declaring that the incident was a hate crime. Woodward was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.