A case search on the Washington state courts website revealed his being the defendant in eight criminal felony cases in his home county of Skagit, in southwestern Washington, prior to 2020 and dating back to July 2015. This was not Garcia's first encounter with the law. A few weeks later, the DOJ reported, 'Garcia told a stranger that his intent in setting the fire was to trap and hurt the people inside.' 'I think it's wrong that we have a bunch of queers in our society,' he added, according to the release. Garcia was arrested only minutes after setting the blaze, telling police 'that he set the fire and that he targeted Queer/Bar because it angered him to see a sign that said 'queer,'' according to the release.
Twenty-seven months after he set fire to a dumpster behind a Seattle gay bar, Kalvinn Garcia has pleaded guilty to one count of committing a federal hate crime.Īccording to a news release issued May 26 by the United States Department of Justice, on February 24, 2020, Garcia, 25, of Sedro Woolley, Washington, set fire to the contents of a dumpster behind Queer/Bar, a popular club in Capitol Hill, Seattle's LGBTQ neighborhood.
