On January 10, 2018, 19-year-old

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

sophomore Blaze Bernstein was found dead in a park in

Orange County, California Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, a ...

, eight days after having been reported missing. He was visiting his family in

Lake Forest, California Lake Forest is a city in Orange County, California. The population was 85,858 at the 2020 census. Lake Forest incorporated as a city on December 20, 1991. Prior to incorporation, the community had been known as El Toro. Following a vote in 20 ...

, when he was killed. He had been stabbed nineteen times. Two days later, Samuel Woodward, one of Bernstein's former high school classmates and a member of

neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...

terrorist group

Atomwaffen Division The Atomwaffen Division (''Atomwaffen'' meaning "nuclear weapons" in German), also known as the National Socialist Resistance Front, is an international far right-wing extremist and neo-Nazi terrorist network. Formed in 2013 and based in the ...

, was arrested and charged with murdering Bernstein. As Bernstein was both openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

and

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

, authorities declared that Bernstein was a victim of a

hate crime A hate crime (also known as a bias-motivated crime or bias crime) is a prejudice-motivated crime which occurs when a perpetrator targets a victim because of their membership (or perceived membership) of a certain social group or racial demograph ...

. Five deaths had links to the Atomwaffen Division over eight months from 2017 to early 2018.

Blaze Bernstein

Bernstein was born on April 27, 1998, in South Orange County, California, to Gideon Bernstein, an equity partner at Leisure Capital Management, and Jeanne Pepper, a former lawyer who retired from law in 2000 to raise their three children. After completing high school at

Orange County School of the Arts Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA, ), is a 7th–12th grade public charter school located in downtown Santa Ana, California. The school caters to middle and high school students with talents in the performing, visual, literary arts, cul ...

, Blaze enrolled as an undergraduate at the

Legal proceedings

The presiding judge initially charged Woodward with murder and personal use of a deadly weapon. In August 2018, two charges of committing a

were added because of Bernstein's

sexual orientation Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...

. Woodward, who has been linked to the murder by DNA evidence, pled not guilty. A pretrial hearing was held in January 2019. Woodward's attorney stated that Woodward has

Asperger syndrome Asperger syndrome (AS), also known as Asperger's, is a former neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in Interpersonal relationship, social interaction and nonverbal communication, along with restricted and re ...

and issues regarding his own sexual identity. Woodward, who was 20 at the time of the crime, faces a sentence of life without parole if found guilty. He had initially faced a maximum sentence of 26 years in prison the murder and weapons charges, prior to the addition of the hate crime enhancements. Woodward's bail was initially set at $5 million but at hearing in November 2018, the judge decided to deny Woodward bail altogether, remanding him to custody pending trial. Due to the COVID crisis, Woodward has remained in confinement since his last court appearance in 2018. His trial was tentatively scheduled to begin sometime in 2021, though a series of postponements pushed it back until July 15, 2022. On July 15, 2022, an Orange County judge temporarily suspended criminal proceedings after Woodward's defense attorney said she had concerns about his competence to stand trial. In late October 2022, mental health experts deemed Woodward competent, and a pre-trial hearing was scheduled for January 2023.

References

External links

Memorial site for Bernstein
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernstein, Blaze Antisemitic attacks and incidents in the United States Antisemitism in Pennsylvania Violence against LGBT people in the United States Neo-fascist terrorist incidents in the United States 2018 murders in the United States Attacks in the United States in 2018 Stabbing attacks in 2018 January 2018 crimes in the United States 2018 crimes in California Lake Forest, California American victims of anti-LGBT hate crimes Violence against gay men in the United States Violence against men in North America Murdered American Jews 2018 in LGBT history Deaths by stabbing in California Antisemitism in California LGBT history in California LGBT and Judaism

Blaze Bernstein

Legal proceedings

See also

References

External links