'Trans Person' Charged with Easter Murder of Cab Driver After Stabbing Captured on Camera
A man who reportedly identifies as a woman has been charged in the Easter Sunday stabbing death of a cab driver in Portland, Oregon.
According to a Monday news release from the Portland Police Bureau, Moses Lopez, 30, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon for allegedly stabbing the man in the neck.
“On Sunday, April 9, 2023, at 6:41 p.m., officers from the Central Precinct responded to a report of a stabbing near the intersection of Southeast Washington Street and Southeast Water Avenue,” police said. “When officers arrived, they found a man who was deceased.”
“One person has been detained and officers are not currently looking for any suspects,” the release said.
Police identified the suspect as Lopez, who remains behind bars.
Press Release: Suspect In Stabbing Arrested, Charged With Murder
Link: https://t.co/0r4dA3D2TS pic.twitter.com/qG1o2Kc6bv— Portland Police (@PortlandPolice) April 10, 2023
The department did not use gender pronouns in the news release, nor did police share a photo of the suspect.
However, Andy Ngo, who has been reporting about political extremism in Portland for years, identified Lopez as transgender in a report for The Post Millennial on Monday.
[firefly_poll]
Breaking exclusive: On Easter Sunday, a taxi driver was brutally stabbed to death in #Portland. Police delayed releasing the suspect’s name & avoided pronouns or providing much information. I investigated. Murder suspect Moses J. Lopez is trans. #trans https://t.co/NnImVInd9f
— Andy Ngô ?️? (@MrAndyNgo) April 11, 2023
According to Ngo, Lopez is a “trans person” who “presents as a woman” and has “a history of threatening behavior.”
The identity of the victim had not been released Tuesday, but KATU-TV identified him as a driver for Radio Cab.
Darin Campbell, a spokesman for the company, said the stabbing was captured on video and it is “extremely disturbing.”
“This was a completely unprovoked attack,” Campbell said of a video that was turned over to police.
He added, “It was a five- to six-minute trip. There was zero conversation. The driver was taking the individual from one place to another, and it was completely out of the blue.”
In a separate interview with The Oregonian, Campbell elaborated on what the car’s camera captured.
“When they got to [the destination], the driver asked if this was close to where he wanted to be dropped off,” Campbell said.
He said the passenger then demanded the driver take him somewhere else in the city.
“When the driver went to put the new address in his GPS, the passenger stabbed him in the neck,” Campbell said.
“Vicious, senseless and brutal,” he said, according to The Oregonian. “There was no conversation. No altercation. Nothing.”
Campbell said the victim had been adopted as a child and had recently made plans to meet his biological parents.
According to KATU, Lopez was arrested April 3 on charges of unlawful possession of a weapon and menacing, but he was released with no bail.
He did not show up for court April 6, the report said, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Lopez will appear in court on the murder charge April 18.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
