Posted on 11/11/2004 12:41:00 AM PST by kattracks
ABC is preparing a major investigation of the Matthew Shepard gay-bashing murder that contends it may not have been a hate crime — but a mugging gone wrong.Friends and family of Shepard — who became a national symbol of the senseless violence against gays — as well as gay activists are upset about the report, scheduled to air on "20/20" later this month.
[snip]
In a press release promoting the show, ABC promised "surprising revelations, including Laramie's underground world of methamphetamine use that may have contributed to the crime and whether or not Shepard knew his killers."
"ABC News' press release about this show definitely raised our eyebrows, and we'll be watching," said Joan M. Garry, Executive Director, Gay & Lesbian Alliance against Defamation.
According to one person who has seen a rough of the episode, "20/20" raises the possibility that Shepard was mugged for his money, not because he was gay.
[snip]
"The murder of Matthew Shepard was and is a heinous and viscous crime," ABC News spokesman Jeffrey Schneider says.
"Exploring and re-examining the facts around that murder in a very thoughtful and in-depth way is the very essence of responsible journalism. This new information in no way diminishes the importance of the national conversation that took place after Matthew Shepard's murder."
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Oooh... do you think they'll change "Matthew Shepard Square" in North Hollywood (which is actually a triangle) based on this?
Naaaa.
He made the "Fag of the Month Club". Leftists never admit they're wrong.
I hate the whole concept of "hate crime" legislation. A crime is a crime.
ABC? not FOX? Did I just hear that Satan has asked for earmuffs.
Still, a human life is a human life. What he did in the bedroom was his personal business, and what he was murdered for--homosexuality or a crime gone awry--is between him and his killers.
Sometimes I begin to see why so many people take a negative view towards the GOP.....
The fact that the left has to bring up this poor guy's name to "prove" how tough gays have got it is proof how Americans in fact don't give a damn what people do as long as they keep it private. ONE guy killed because he was gay proves what? That gays being killed for that is incredibly rare.
I agree.
But to a leftist, the "reason" you committed a crime is as important as the crime itself.
Actually, it's not. Whether he was murdered for homosexuality, is a matter for law enforcement and the judicial system.
It's the thought-crime aspect of "hate crime," and that it matters which "group" hate is condoned/not condoned by the judicial system that causes this republican to take a negative view of the whole incident.
"Sometimes I begin to see why so many people take a negative view towards the GOP....."
As you astutely point out prior to disagreeing with yourself -the why is not relevant...
-if the position is incorrect IT is incorrect -sympathy aside...
No, it's not. It's an issue that has a cultural impact and may go to show that labeling his murder as a "hate crime" rather than a mugging gone wrong was done to further an agenda.
BTW, what has this got to do with the GOP?
There is almost no violence against "gays" in this country. On the other hand, "gays" do tremendous psychological violence against the innocents that they seduce.
Sorry, didn't necessarily mean to ping the comment straight to you...
But I just get irked when comments turn to those similar to that of clee1's. And yes, Virginia, there are targeted crimes--but there are against every group, gays, whites, blacks, economic differences, etc. alike. It's just a matter of some douchebag finding an excuse to go out and bash someone.
Ultimately, I do agree that "hate crime legislation" isn't the way to go. To me, a murder is a murder, regardless of motive, and those sentenced should always get life without parole or a death sentence.
Not any more. That used to be the case but it's clearly not when it's written into the law and makes a difference in the punishment for the crime. It's also not between him and them when the gay lobby shoves the idea that straight people are vicious homophobes down our collective throats.
From a thread I authored April 19, 2001:
The more you learn about the Matthew Shepard killing, the less it looks like a hate crime. All the evidence points to the truth being that Shepard was chosen because to rob because he could be relied upon to jump in the truck that Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson were riding in.
Important to consider is that McKinney and Henderson got into a fight with a some Hispanic teens later that evening, and it was McKinney's pistol-whipping of one of them that led police investigating that assault to the pistol-whipping murder of Shepard. McKinney was not charged with a hate crime in that incident, if he was charged at all.
The idea that the killing of Shepard was some sort of 'threatening message to the community' -- which used to be the narrow criteria separating "hate crime" from run-of-the-mill "crime" -- falls apart when you examine the case. Henderson -- who confessed and implicated McKinney as the one who initiated the attack that killed Shepard -- said that McKinney whacked Shepard in the skull with his gun after Shepard was still able to read the license plate number of the truck -- as he was ordered to do by McKinney. No anti-gay slurs were reported during the attack, according to all witness accounts that I have read. The "hate crime" charge hangs on the slim thread of the killers' use of anti-gay slurs when recounting the murder to their girlfriends (both were charged with being accessories after the fact and pleaded guilty to reduced charges).
The so-called "gay panic" defense that McKinney and his counsel came up with was blocked by the judge. In Wyoming, there are restrictions on diminished capacity defenses. Still, chances are the strategy probably would not have survived serious examination, considering that we now know that McKinney's insistence that Shepard had groped him was contradicted by his videotaped confession to the beating death.
It is not impossible that Shepard's killing was out of "hate," but we will never really know. That's because part of the bargain that saved Aaron McKinney from execution in that case was his agreement not to discuss the case -- a "self-imposed" gag order at the insistence of Shepard's parents and at the threat of life on Wyoming's death row. This was not just a prevention of Henderson potentially profiting from his crime, a la Mumia Abu-Jamal and John Wayne Gacy -- he can't even talk about the murder to a reporter for free.
That post-trial, post-sentencing gag order is surely a First Amendment violation, but it likely will never make it to the SCOTUS...or the front page of the NY Times, either.
I would be shocked if John Stossel wasn't behind this. And if not, even better -- it would mean that there is more than one reporter at ABC News that can think without Marc Halperin's assistance.
ABC will no doubt conclude that it was indeed a hate crime.
First, they were not in a bedroom and homos don't want to keep their homosexuality in the bedroom, that is just a lie they tell. This was a murder by some murderers, plain and simple.
Second, some want to make this a special murder because the kid was homosexual and they want to use him politically.
Third, outrageous sexual abuse lifestyles by the homosexual culture has spread enormous amounts of STDs, including AIDS and killed a lot more people than these murderers did.
If these people really cared about saving lives they would act differently, they didn't even want to shut down the aids-spreading bath houses to save lives. This shows them as the hypocrites they are. Don't blame the GOP...sheesh.
< Still, a human life is a human life. What he did in the bedroom was his personal business, and what he was murdered for--homosexuality or a crime gone awry--is between him and his killers. >
You are missing the point here. Yes, murder is murder and a crime is a crime.
The point is that a "hate" crime has officially been declared a "greater" crime. If why he was murdered is "between him and his killers" then how could it be determined to be a "hate" crime? You just made the conservatives point.
"The murder of Matthew Shepard was and is a heinous and viscous crime," ABC News spokesman Jeffrey Schneider says.
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