Man in Florida Clerk Hammer Attack who got Trump’s Attention Targeted Victim

Can You Believe It?

Fort Myers, FL (WorkersCompensation.com) – A man whose attack on a gas station clerk in Fort Myers, Fla., ended up on President Donald Trump’s social media feed targeted the woman, officials said.

Rolbert Joachin, accused of killing a Chevron gas station clerk earlier this month, said he went to the gas station specifically to kill her. During his first appearance in court on April 8, Joachin said he intentionally went to the gas station with the idea of killing the woman.

While police said Joachin was not known to the victim, Nilufa Easmin, also known as Yasmin, Joachin had previously had two “encounters” with Easmin.

On April 3, Easmin was working at the Chevron station near Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard. That same day, she was attacked by Joachin.

Surveillance video from the scene showed Joachin approaching the store and smashing a car windshield. Employees at the store told police the car belonged to the victim. As Joachin attacks the car, the victim exits the store to intercede. Joachin then approached the victim and struck her several times with a hammer.

Joachin was arrested “after an extensive coordinated manhunt,” officials with the Fort Myers Police Department said. Upon his arrest, police said Joachin gave a detailed confession.  

Police said Joachin reportedly admitted that he went to the gas station specifically to kill Easmin.

Detective Laynor Rodriguez, the lead investigator in the case with the Fort Myers Police Department testified during Joachin’s initial court hearing that Joachin told detectives he wanted to attract Easmin’s attention. He told detectives that he put on the same clothes on that he had worn two days earlier when he had been in the gas station so that Yasmin would recognize him. He then admitted that he intentionally smashed her car’s windshield with a hammer so she would come outside the store.

A GoFundMe was set up to support Easmin’s two daughters.

“Easmin’s dedication to her children was unwavering, and it is our hope that the community can come together to honor her memory by supporting her girls,” the GoFundMe page, organized by Bangladesh Association of Southwest Florida’s president, Samir Bahadur Syed, said.

“This fundraiser is being organized by the Bangladesh Association of Southwest Florida to help provide for Easmin’s daughters during this incredibly difficult and uncertain time. The funds raised will go directly toward their basic needs—ensuring they have food, shelter, and the essentials required to maintain some stability as they begin to heal,” the GoFundMe page said. “The loss of Easmin has created an unimaginable void in the lives of her daughters.”

Rodriguez said Joachin was read his Miranda rights in Creole and appeared to understand them. The detective said Joachin answered questions in English, and occasionally in Creole.

Joachin was reportedly known to Fort Myers police. Detectives also testified that Joachin is a suspect in another case they had been working on for months. Detectives did not identify the specific case.

The case garnered national attention when President Donald Trump posted the video of Yasmin’s murder to his Truth Social account, calling it “one of the most vicious thinks you will ever see.”

Trump commented on Joachin being in the country illegally from Haiti, and mentioned Joachin’s expired Temporary Protected Status.  

“This animal was allowed to stay here because the Biden Administration granted him, and all Haitians, “Temporary Protective Status,” a massively abused and fraudulent program which my Administration is working to terminate, but Deranged Liberal District Court Judges are standing in our way. This one killing should be enough for these Radical Judges to STOP impeding my Administration’s Immigration Policies, and allow us to END THIS SCAM ONCE AND FOR ALL,” he posted to Truth Social.

Republicans and Democrats decried Trump’s release of the video because of its brutal and vicious nature.

Trump also asked for people to pray for the family of Easmin, and he ensured "quick and severe" justice in the case.

Since then, the Trump administration stripped Joachin’s protected status, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Joachin entered the country illegally in 2022 but was allowed to stay in the country on TPS.

ICE has since then said it has issued a hold against Joachin, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said he will be deported regardless of the case's outcome.

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