Kelly Schneider, Hate Crime, Idaho 2016

In a shocking case of hate crime, Kelly Schneider, a 23-year-old man from Nampa, Idaho, has pleaded guilty to violently assaulting Steven Nelson because of his sexual orientation, resulting in his death.

The brutal attack occurred on April 29, 2016, in an isolated wildlife area near Lake Lowell. Schneider, who had solicited sex from Nelson on backpage.com the night before, met up with him and asked him to drive to the isolated area for a sexual encounter. Once there, Schneider began physically assaulting Nelson, kicking him 20 to 30 times with steel-toed boots and repeatedly using a homophobic slur.

Nelson, who never resisted throughout the attack, died of his injuries later that day. The case was investigated by the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the Treasure Valley Metro Violent Crime Task Force, and is being prosecuted by U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson and Trial Attorney Aejean Cha of the Civil Rights Division.

According to the plea agreement, Schneider had told his friends that he was not gay and would not let anyone who was gay touch him. He had also conspired with others to rob Nelson, who had responded to his solicitation for sex on backpage.com.

The charge of willful assault based on sexual orientation, resulting in death, is punishable by up to life in prison, supervised release of not more than five years, and a $250,000 fine. Schneider is set to be sentenced on April 26 in front of Chief U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill.

The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which was passed to address bias-motivated violence, has been used to prosecute Schneider in federal court. The act makes it a federal crime to assault or kill someone because of their sexual orientation.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Tom Wheeler said, ‘Kelly Schneider assaulted and killed a man because of the man’s sexual orientation. This is a federal crime, and the Justice Department will continue to work with our federal and state law enforcement partners to enforce our federal hate crimes laws.’

U.S. Attorney Olson said, ‘Steven Nelson was assaulted and later died because he was gay. This is precisely the kind of bias-motivated violence that the Shepard-Byrd Act was passed to address. The federal prosecution in this case makes clear that this office, the Civil Rights Division and its law enforcement partners will pursue justice when a person is violently attacked based on who he loves and how he loves.’

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