Moms Demand Action, Students Demand Action Statement on Shooting of Fifty Bandz, a Black Trans Woman Killed in Baton Rouge

The Louisiana chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, both a part of Everytown for Gun Safety’s grassroots networks, released the following statement on the death of Fifty Bandz, a 21-year-old Black transgender woman who was shot to death in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on January 28, according to recent reports. Her shooting is the fourth reported killing of a trans or gender nonconforming person in the United States this year. All four victims so far this year have been Black women killed with a gun.

“Fifty Bandz should be alive today,” said Angelle Bradford, a volunteer leader with Louisiana Moms Demand Action. “Our hearts go out to Fifty Bandz’s loved ones. No one should have to know what it’s like to have someone taken by gun violence, but tragically, Black trans women are shot and killed at alarming rates. Black trans lives matter and it’s past time lawmakers to start acting like it.”

Fifty Bandz is at least the fourth reported trans person killed in 2021, although it’s likely there have been more deaths that have gone unreported or victims have been misgendered. Last year was the deadliest year on record for trans and gender nonconforming people in the U.S. after 38 people were shot and killed. Some trends from 2017 to 2020 that are likely to continue:

• Guns are the most frequently used weapon in the murder of trans people. Three-fourths of trans people killed in America were killed with a gun.
• Black trans women account for the majority of homicide victims in the trans community. To put this into perspective, while Black people make up 16% of the trans population, 75% of known trans homicide victims between 2017 and 2020 were Black.

Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund has tracked homicides of transgender and gender non-comforming people in the U.S since 2017. In addition to breaking down gun violence to the state- and county-level, the platform includes a database of known trans or gender nonconforming homicide victims in the United States. As the numbers show, violence against the trans community is inherently linked to guns and 2020 was the deadliest year on record.