Posted on 10/29/2009 11:06:34 AM PDT by Bean74
While CBS and NBC ignored yesterday’s expansion of the federal definition of hate crimes to include sexual orientation, ABC’s Charlie Gibson reported it, explaining that the amendment was “named for Matthew Shepard, a Wyoming college student killed 11 years ago because he was gay.”
It’s true that the amendment, attached to a defense spending bill, was named for Shepard but Gibson ignored his own network’s investigation of the Shepard case that revealed sexual orientation was not the sole motive behind his murder.
ABC’s “20/20” investigation in 2004 found that drugs fueled Shepard’s brutal murder, not homophobia, as is widely believed. Aaron Mickinney, who fatally assaulted Shepard, told ABC he was high on methamphetamine during the attack and it was the drugs that sparked his rage, not Shepard’s sexual orientation.
Anchor Elizabeth Vargas reported that Shepard’s friends promoted the idea that Shepard’s sexuality was the key factor in his murderer’s attack. “Just hours after Matthew was discovered at the fence, and before anyone knew who had beaten him, Walt Boulden and Alex Trout, friends of Shepard, began spreading the word that Matthew may have been attacked because he was gay.
Cal Rerucha, the prosecutor in the case, confirmed Vargas’ words. “They [Shepard’s friends] were calling the county attorney’s office. They were calling the media and indicating, “Matthew Shepard is gay, and we don’t want the fact that he is gay to go unnoticed,” he stated.
Rerucha also told ABC he didn’t “think the proof [of a hate crime] was there” and “it something [Shepard’s friends] had decided.”
Ben Fritzen, a former police detective and one of the lead investigators on the case, told Vargas it was drugs and money that motivated the attack on Shepard.
“Matthew Shepard’s sexual preference or sexual orientation certainly wasn’t the motive in the homicide. If it wasn’t Shepard, they would have found another easy target. What it came down to, really, is drugs and money and two punks that were out looking for it,” he told ABC.
Despite what law enforcement had to say about the murder, Shepard’s friend Walt insisted to ABC, “I know in the core of my heart it happened because he revealed he was gay. And it’s chilling. They targeted him because he was gay.”
Shepard’s death was a terrible tragedy, and nobody deserves the treatment he received that night. But to ignore evidence that indicated the motives behind his murder were more than pure homophobia to push a political agenda is irresponsible.
For more on the consequences of hate crime laws on free speech, click here.
people are murdered daily for one reason or another, even if he’s killed for being gay, does not make it any more different than people being killed for being a Christian, straight, black, white..etc hate crime is a farce. we need to treat all murders as that... a murder.
There is a High School “play” many schools around the country are involved in, concerning this tragedy.
My understanding is that, in REALITY, at least one of the convicted killers was homosexual or bisexual. So, is it a “hate crime” when one gay person kills another gay person?
Also, it was a drug deal gone bad the triggered the violence, I think.
If someone kills ME, they should get the same punishment no matter if they love me or hate me.
I do not understand “hate crimes” legislation, at all.
Why do I often hear this was from a drug deal gone bad?
And yet they expect me to believe that the abduction, rape, torture, and murder in the Christian/Newsom case was a “robbery gone wrong”.
Neither rats nor lamestream ever let facts get in the way .
Gibson is a dunderhead who can’t be expected to contribute any depth or enlightenment to the news. He is what he is. As for hate crime legislation to protect sexual deviants, it needs to be balanced by hate crime legislation to protect the rest of us from the violence of sexual deviants. Better yet, get back to the sanity of having equal protection under the law, and stop trying to engineer society by making laws apply unequally.
I thought Elizabeth Vargas of ABC did a segment that Matthew Shepard was murdered because of drugs.
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=277685&page=1&page=1
From what I heard from people in LARAMIE, there was a drug angle to this....amphetamines is the rumor.
Son of Sam killed brunettes. Therefore, was that a “hate of brunetttes” crime?
I understand why such legislation is passed by congress, but I don't agree with it. Does that statement better describe your opinion of the matter?
If not, it's simple enough. There are special interest and advocacy groups of every description, including those who support homosexuality and the people who practice it. They lobby congress to have legislation passed on their behalf for a variety of reasons, and because of liberalism and political correctness, that legislation is passed. It's simple to understand, even if from our ideological point of view it's wrong. It's also wrong because it violates the equal protection clause, IMO.
The real problem is that the acceptance of the homosexual act, of which this type of legislation is emblematic, points to a very sick society.
I can tell you first hand living in Miami during the cocaine cowboy era, there were plenty of brutal murders then and now that WERE NOT because the idiots were gay. Far from it!
Mathew Shepherd was in with the wrong people at the wrong time.
A friend of mine, Gary Northrop, yes THAT Northrop family was brutally murdered. His head was caved in by an unspeakable beating with his own tools while in his garage. Gay had a bit of an addiction to cocaine. Seems he may have made a bad drug deal. Sound familiar? No, he wasn’t gay, but the folks he owed money too couldn’t have cared less.
Gary was made an example of to many of the young wealthy people in the area that you don’t mess with the local mafioso dealers.
I don’t understand why it passed Congress. If there was truly the support, it would not have been amended to a military financing bill.
Gay = Gary
RIP old friend.
And by the way, the sodomite activists have been using crimes against sodomites as fuel for their political agenda for decades, and they are still at it. "Keep investigating, damn it, until you find evidence that homophobia was at the root of this crime!"
Here is a perfect example:
MILITARY: Probe into sailor's death still moving forward
The sodomites will not let up until the Navy says, "Yeah, okay, the sailor was killed because he was gay (even though he wasn't). There... You happy now?"
What I do not understand is that, even “minorities” should fear “thought crimes” or fear the government trying to get into our heads.
I do not understand why libs don’t see that this stuff might be used against THEM some day!
Charlie, why was Jesse Dirkheiser murdered?
I think his being gay was likely what motivated Shepherd to make himself vulnerable. He wanted something that day from Aaron McKinney, and it wasn’t drugs. He wanted it bad enough to foolishly put himself in an extremely vulnerable situation, and he paid for it dearly.
That's just political cover. A way to pass a potentially unpopular bill under the radar. They can then say that anyone who opposes this bill opposes funding the military. That's a very old and commonplace trick. As for support, I suspect there are 218 votes to pass a homosexual protection act, the makeup of congress being what it is, but why slap a bull on the nose when you don't have to?
Charlie Gibson: Commie or just stupid? You make the call. I’ll guess “both”.
Sorry to step on your toes. A lot of people say they don't understand when what they mean is that they don't agree. But, I know it's irritating to be told what you mean. I should have phrased it as a question.
"What I do not understand is that, even “minorities” should fear “thought crimes” or fear the government trying to get into our heads."
They fear other things more, like getting their heads broken, and this is "for them".
Common liberal think, "I don't care about the facts. What matters is what I feel is true."
I don’t now how to post an article so check out Cashill Newsletter on how hate crimes work I think WND has the article.
“I do not understand ‘hate crimes’ legislation, at all.”
Some people think particular minority groups need extra-special protection, because the temptation for Regular White Dudes to kill them is too strong for ordinary murder charges to deter. These people, of course, are idiots. The rest of the proponents of Hate Crimes are in it to promote their little group and/or get credit for aiding in said promotion. It’s just another case of identity politics, that’s all/
“What I do not understand is that, even ‘minorities’ should fear ‘thought crimes’ or fear the government trying to get into our heads.”
I steer clear of the Thought Crime angle, since thought is already under consideration, and should be, in some cases. Intent, for instance, is all inside the head, and people get tougher or lighter punishment based on it.
The real problem is that “hate” is a motive and, traditionally speaking, motive is not an element of crime. For obvious reasons, since for any one person murdered there could have been a dozen people who had wanted to do so at one point. That’s why defense attourneys always counter witnesses’ claims of hearing the defendent vow “I will kill that man!” by asking them if they’ve ever said they want to kill someone at some point in their lives.
Hate Crime legislation overturns centuries of legal tradition, and for that reason, not the Thought Crime reason, it is a travesty.
Still, I think it is a bit creepy for the government to say that a class-based murder is any worse than a murder done for hire or for revenge.
In fact, I guess to avoid the “hate crime” charge, a defendant could say, “I am not saying I killed him, but he DID 1.) steal money from me 2.) mess with my girl 3.) call me names 4.) cheat at poker -— etc.
In other words, prove that there was a different motive, besides hate -— but these libs don't seem to care about other motives, as long as “hate” existed, somehow, it is a “Hate crime” if that hate was based on identity with some protected group.
Remember how we went from, thankfully, protecting abused wives to allowing wives who murdered abusive husbands to get off the hook? Sometimes, when no REAL abuse even took place?
How long until those who “commit” these “hate crimes” can be bumped off, and their lives will be judges less valuable, since, after all, these were “haters” were they not?
When you make some lives more valuable than others, simple logic says that the value of those lives, not protected to the same extent, have DECLINED in value.
Prove you killed a “hate criminal” and you might get a slap on the wrist!
“Remember how we went from, thankfully, protecting abused wives to allowing wives who murdered abusive husbands to get off the hook? Sometimes, when no REAL abuse even took place?”
Yes, I also remember cases where women who feared rape could use deadly force, based entirely upon their perception of their supposed attacker’s actions. Not to say I don’t want women killing rapists, but what if the guy was just walking down he street? There have to be some overt actions, some standard the court can use for a “point of no return,” after which, and only after which, it’s okay to use deadly force.
The problem with hate crimes, of course, is that they’re not going to bother with perceptions, let alone set standards for determining when hate is present. That is, they can’t ask the victim whether he perceived hate in his attacker. Witnesses, of course, could be asked their opinion. But what are they, psychologists? Social scientists? No.
Unless it’s painfully obvious, they’ll only be able to go by what the attacker says, and more often, the larger social groups to which each side belongs. In other words, two gay guys, regular crime. Straight guy vs. gay guy? “Hate”.
Bottom line, this is all about throwing a bone to the gay rights lobby, and creating a protected class. Which, by the way, won’t actually be protected. If assualt and/or murder charges aren’t enough to deter an attack, what effect do you think a little added time for “hate” will have?
Finally, our stupid leaders might look into tackling actual problems at some point. Gay-bashing, however horrible, is like a drop in the pond compared to black-on-black crime, for instance.
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