Rapper Bad Bunny made a statement against transphobic violence during his performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
Bad Bunny wore a skirt, pink jacket and white t-shirt with the words “Mataron a Alexa, no a un hombre con falda,” printed on the chest. The sentence translates to “They killed Alexa, not a man in a skirt,” according to Billboard.
The shirt refers to Neulisa "Alexa" Luciano Ruiz, a transgender woman who was murdered in Puerto Rico on February 23.
Bad Bunny is known for testing the constraints of gender and told GQ he believes it is important to use his platform for advocacy.
“I think it's my responsibility, as a person of influence — not just as an artist but as a person — to sometimes try to do what I can,” he said in March 2019. “If I have the chance to say something, I will say it — but that doesn't obligate me to always say something, or to shed light on every problem, as if I were a lawmaker.”
Ruiz was killed hours after she was reported to the police for using a women’s restroom in a San Juan McDonalds. She was accused of using a mirror to spy on other women in the restroom, but the claims were unfounded. Ruiz was homeless at the time of her death.
Videos of her killing were posted on social media. In the clips, Ruiz’s attackers were heard laughing before shots rang out, NBC News reported.
“We are going to shoot you up. Let’s spin the tires on this motherf**ker,” someone said in the video.
“You bet I am going to go and shoot him,” a person said before the shooting began.
The assailants have not been identified. Gov. Wanda Vázquez said the crime will be investigated as a hate crime, per The Associated Press.
“Everything points to this being a hate crime, and that’s how it will be treated,” she said.
Ruiz’s death drew outrage on and off social media.
San Juan mayor and gubernatorial candidate Carmen Yulín Cruz decried the tragedy on Twitter.
Se puede sentir el dolor de Pedro Julio y de todos los que entendemos que las vidas de nuestra gente TRANS valen lo mismo que la de cualquier otro compatriota. @PedroJulio
https://t.co/ZW6lhbSKW7— Carmen Yulín Cruz (@CarmenYulinCruz) February 25, 2020
“You can feel the pain of Pedro Julio and all of us who understand that the lives of our TRANS people are worth the same as that of any other compatriot,” she wrote.
A hashtag dedicated to Ruiz, #SeLlamabaAlexa, trended on Twitter this week. The hashtag translates to “Her name was Alexa.”
Investigators are seeking four teenagers who they believe might be responsible for Ruiz’s death, reported The Hill.
“The [Puerto Rico Police Department] will work with the diligence and sensitivity this case merits. We encourage people who have information to cooperate with the various investigations that are carried out," Gov. Vázquez stated.
Police said Ruiz’s body has not been claimed by her family. She is believed to be the second transgender person to be murdered in 2020, according to The Human Rights Commission. In 2019, there were at least 26 trans killings and the majority of the victims were Black transgender women.