Trans Attacker Literally ‘Gutted’ Postman in Line for Lunch, Arrested 5 Times Before: NYPD

A self-described transgender individual with a history of violence allegedly stabbed a postal worker to death in New York City on Thursday afternoon over a spot in line at a deli.

The incident, which occurred at a bodega in Harlem, sees the alleged assailant facing homicide charges over the death of Ray Hodges, a letter carrier for the U.S. Postal Service who was buying lunch, according to the New York Post.

Hodges, 36, reportedly skipped the line at the bodega in front of Cruz, 24.

That allegedly incited Cruz to stab the postal worker in the stomach. Hodges was taken to Harlem Hospital but succumbed to the wounds.

The Post describes that Cruz “gutted [Hodges] in the stomach.”

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service confirmed that Hodges was a postal worker and noted that he was assigned to Manhattan, per a statement provided to NBC News.

“The Postal Inspection Service takes matters involving the safety and wellbeing of postal service employees as a top priority,” the agency said.

“We are working diligently with the New York City Police Department on this investigation,” the statement added.

This attack was one of several committed by Cruz, New York Police Department law enforcement sources told the Post, which said police described the attacker as a “transgendered woman.”

Cruz indeed has at least five prior arrests.

Back in July 2020, Cruz brandished a box cutter at another person in Midtown. Witnesses recalled that Cruz yelled, “I’m going to cut him,” and disobeyed orders to get on the ground.

A mere two weeks later, Cruz was arrested for a group robbery, stealing a man’s phone and wallet alongside another attacker. Both Cruz and the accomplice were wielding knives.

New York City has been the site of many shockingly violent incidents in recent weeks.

Just to mention a few, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala lit a woman on fire on the subway, while a man shoved a fellow passenger onto the tracks as a subway car was pulling into the station.

But there also seems to be an underreported phenomenon of transgender violence.

There is a well-documented pattern of mass shootings and other unhinged crimes perpetrated by self-described transgender people, who often have histories of underlying mental health issues that contribute to their dysphoria, yet the media largely turns a blind eye to that pattern.

The self-described transgender population is rather small, and yet they seem to be increasingly known for violence. One would think some journalist out there would like to know why, or at least admit that a pattern seems to exist.

The most recent Harlem stabbing was covered by The New York Times, ABC News, and several other established media outlets, yet most of them did not even mention that the attacker claimed transgender identity.

But the truth behind this particular assailant going postal should not be ignored.

Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.