FBI seeks information about fatal shooting of Black trans woman Brazil Johnson in Milwaukee

The FBI is searching for a person believed to be connected to the 2022 homicide of 28-year-old Black trans woman Brazil Johnson in Milwaukee.

The agency on Tuesday disseminated pictures of a person spotted on surveillance footage and asked that the public contact the Milwaukee Field Office at 414-276-4684 if they have information.

Johnson was found fatally shot near North Teutonia and West Garfield avenues on June 15, 2022.

Johnson was the 17th transgender person killed in the U.S. in 2022, according to the Human Rights Campaign. Her death came amid a rise in anti-LGBTQ, and specifically anti-trans, rhetoric and policies nationwide.

At least 41 transgender or gender non-conforming people were killed in 2022. That number dropped to 31 in 2023.

At the time, Johnson’s mother, Bernitha Gildart, told the Journal Sentinel that Johnson had dreams of designing video games and opening a bakery. She loved cooking and poetry.

She graduated from Rufus King High School and Milwaukee Area Technical College. She held jobs as an assistant manager at Cousin’s sub shop and in the kitchen of a local Applebee’s.

As a teenager, Johnson was a community health promoter for Diverse & Resilient, which serves the LGBTQ community. Staff there remembered her as sweet and kind, and pledged to continue their work to support trans people.

“We failed to protect Brazil as we have failed so many other trans woman of color who are murdered every year,” a statement released by Diverse & Resilient in 2022 said.