A California man, Samuel Woodward, 26, was found guilty of first-degree murder with a hate crime enhancement for the 2018 stabbing death of Blaze Bernstein, a gay University of Pennsylvania student. Bernstein, a college sophomore, was visiting his family in Southern California on winter break when he went missing. His body was discovered a week later in a shallow grave at a nearby park.
During the trial, it was revealed that Woodward had affiliations with a violent, anti-gay, neo-Nazi extremist group called Atomwaffen Division. The prosecutor emphasized Woodward's hate-filled motives, stating that he sought out hate rather than being influenced by it.
