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BULLY PULPIT (Matthew Shepard "Hate Crime" or Mugging)
New York Post ^ | 11/11/04

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 ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events; US: Wyoming
KEYWORDS: biasinthemedia; hatecrime; homosexualagenda; homosexuallist; matthewshepard; matthewshephard; matthewsheppard; mediabias; orwell; thoughtpolice
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To: kattracks

hate crime laws are a liberal feel good joke..

ive always wondered by what measure a prosecutor/judge/etc is able to determine if the perp "hated" the victim or "really really really really didnt like" him/her.....

whats next... "aggressively pissed off" or "moderately annoyed" crimes?


21 posted on 11/11/2004 3:50:03 AM PST by Goodwillhntg (GW.... GODS WISDOM!!)
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To: Tuba-Dude
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.....

Ah, but there's the rub.

Did his killers deserve to be punished more if they killed him for being gay than if they killed him for his money?

Is it really so hard to see the point?

Maybe the sentences should be reviewed and reduced if there is a reasonable doubt that they killed him for his sexual habits.
22 posted on 11/11/2004 4:25:19 AM PST by George W. Bush
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To: kattracks
This is definitely gonna rile the libs.

Here they have their martyr, Saint Matt (complete with the little halo) and mean ol' ABC threatens to upset the applecart with some facts.

This should be a great story to follow.
23 posted on 11/11/2004 4:29:58 AM PST by George W. Bush
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To: kattracks

My now deceased father knew the Shepard family in Casper. He said the whole family loved the PR that came with Matthew being a homosexual activist.


24 posted on 11/11/2004 4:35:44 AM PST by SLB ("We must lay before Him what is in us, not what ought to be in us." C. S. Lewis)
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To: kattracks

We ALL know about Mathew Shephard. Where are the stories and movies and activists for Jesse Dirkhising?


25 posted on 11/11/2004 5:36:21 AM PST by Liberty Valance (Shoot low boys, they're ridin' Shetland ponies)
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To: Tuba-Dude
[W]hat he was murdered for ... is between him and his killers.
BINGO!!!
26 posted on 11/11/2004 10:14:38 AM PST by eastsider
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To: kattracks
Also from the article:

"The murder of Matthew Shepard was and is a heinous and viscous crime," ABC News spokesman Jeffrey Schneider says.

From Encarta:

vis·cous [ vískess ]

adjective 
1. thick and sticky: thick and sticky, reluctant to flow, and difficult to stir

2. physics having relatively high viscosity: used to describe a fluid that has a relatively high resistance to flow

[14th century. From late Latin viscosus  “sticky,” from Latin viscum  “mistletoe, birdlime made from mistletoe berries,” of uncertain origin.]


27 posted on 11/11/2004 11:56:06 AM PST by xjcsa (Everything matters if anything matters at all...)
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To: L.N. Smithee

Great post. It looks like you were three years ahead of ABC on this. BTW, Andrew Sullivan on Chris Matthews Sunday show said something was going to come out about this case shortly.


28 posted on 11/14/2004 4:50:48 PM PST by Teslas Pigeon
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To: L.N. Smithee

Additionally, some maintain that Shepard had a propensity for putting himself in danger. Paglia wrote at length about this. I guess he thought that he was in for more of an adventure than just being robbed, and less of one than being killed.


29 posted on 11/14/2004 5:35:55 PM PST by Poincare
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To: 2ndMostConservativeBrdMember; afraidfortherepublic; Alas; al_c; american colleen; annalex; ...
20/20 investigation probes Matthew Shepard murder
Was Matthew Shepard just a robbery victim?
Matthew Shepard's killers talk to ABC
Gay anger over Shepard news report
 
The segment is scheduled to air Nov. 26.

30 posted on 11/14/2004 6:13:24 PM PST by Coleus (God gave us the right to life and self preservation and a right to defend ourselves and families)
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Jessie Dirkhising, RIP

Homosexual Agenda/Media Bias Alert

http://home.arkansasusa.com/dlackey/dirkhisingreport.htm
http://conwebwatch.tripod.com/stories/2001/jesse.html
http://www.aim.org/publications/media_monitor/2001/04/6.html
http://www.aim.org/publications/weekly_column/1999/12/02.htm
http://www.alliance4lifemin.org/jessedirkhising.html
http://www.cnsnews.com/Culture/Archive/CUL19991110c.html
http://www.reclaimamerica.org/PAGES/fastfacts/HateCrimes2.pdf
http://www.gregoryhand.com/2001archive/031401.html
http://www.inoohr.org/jessed.htm
http://www.worthynews.com/commentary/jesse-double-standard.html
http://www.rightgrrl.com/2001/jesse.shtml


31 posted on 11/14/2004 6:21:08 PM PST by Coleus (God gave us the right to life and self preservation and a right to defend ourselves and families)
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To: Tuba-Dude

The point is that the alleged "reason" for the crime was spurious.

It turns out (per ABC) that the REAL reason for the crime was that the kid was a dealer and had a lot of cash on him; the fact that he was a queer was secondary--and only came into play after he attempted to put the make on one of his captors.

He was robbed, then killed. The "queer martyr" stuff is poppycock.

In order, then: Matthew was a criminal drug dealer. Matthew had a lot of cash, and was a robbery target. His captors thought he could ID them and they were nervous. They killed him.

Drug-related criminal activity, wholly unexceptionable. Not a story until the QueerBrigades MADE it a story.


32 posted on 11/15/2004 5:01:07 AM PST by ninenot (Minister of Membership, TomasTorquemadaGentlemen'sClub)
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To: ReadyNow

Actually, there is a great deal of violence against queers in this country. Usually, however, it is queer-on-queer violence, as careful documentation proves.

But the MSM does NOT report it that way; usually, "lovers' spats' which turn violent or fatal are simply reported as murders or beatings. The queer relationships which were the predicate are rarely brought out.

It's the agenda, stupid...


33 posted on 11/15/2004 5:03:48 AM PST by ninenot (Minister of Membership, TomasTorquemadaGentlemen'sClub)
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To: L.N. Smithee
it would mean that there is more than one reporter at ABC News that can think without Marc Halperin's assistance.

Edited for accuracy

34 posted on 11/15/2004 5:06:22 AM PST by ninenot (Minister of Membership, TomasTorquemadaGentlemen'sClub)
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