Register | Sign In


Understanding through Discussion


EvC Forum active members: 65 (9162 total)
2 online now:
Newest Member: popoi
Post Volume: Total: 915,815 Year: 3,072/9,624 Month: 917/1,588 Week: 100/223 Day: 11/17 Hour: 0/0


Thread  Details

Email This Thread
Newer Topic | Older Topic
  
Author Topic:   Hate-crime = Thought crime?
DevilsAdvocate
Member (Idle past 3101 days)
Posts: 1548
Joined: 06-05-2008


Message 354 of 376 (541167)
01-01-2010 7:58 AM
Reply to: Message 353 by Rrhain
01-01-2010 5:42 AM


Associated Press, November 19, 1998: writes:
Rerucha and law enforcement officers outlined a timeline of the crime, which drew international attention because authorities believe Shepard was targeted, at least partially, because he was gay.
McKinney and Henderson lured Shepard from a campus bar Oct. 7 by telling them they were gay and that they wanted to get ``better acquainted,'' Rerucha said. As they drove away in McKinney's truck, McKinney pulled the handgun and said, ```We're not gay, and you're jacked,''' Rerucha said.
Outside town, they ``beat him for $20, your honor, the contents of the wallet,'' Rerucha said.
Rocky Mountain News of April 7, 1999 writes:
McKinney confessed to sheriff's Detective Sgt. Rob DeBree in an Oct. 9 interview that he had lured Shepard out of the bar, robbed him and repeatedly hit him. McKinney said he knew Shepard was homosexual, and that the University of Wyoming student never made any advances to him, according to testimony at McKinney's preliminary hearing last fall. 'Guess what? We're not gay. You're going to get jacked,' DeBree testified, relating what McKinney said he told Shepard seconds before landing the first blow with a stolen .357-caliber pistol.
Denver Post, October 11, 1998 writes:
McKinney, 22, was embarrassed that Shepard made two passes at him in front of his friends Tuesday night at the Fireside bar, said Bill McKinney [the defendant's father] and Kristen Price [one of the two girlfriend/accomplices].
I agree with you on this one Rrhain.
So basically nearly a week prior to his murder, Aaron McKinney and Russell Arthur Henderson knew he was gay (he may or may not have hit on them at a local bar in town the previous week, which really is irrelevant to the case).
So yes, they specifically targeted him being gay, knowing that he was gay and premeditatedly knew they would (a) severely beat him up or (b) kill him outright, because he was gay. This act in itself is a message to the entire gay community of there hatred for this 'type' of people.
Edited by DevilsAdvocate, : No reason given.

One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we've been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We're no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It is simply too painful to acknowledge -- even to ourselves -- that we've been so credulous. - Carl Sagan, The Fine Art of Baloney Detection
"You can't convince a believer of anything; for their belief is not based on evidence, it's based on a deep seated need to believe." - Carl Sagan
"It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World

This message is a reply to:
 Message 353 by Rrhain, posted 01-01-2010 5:42 AM Rrhain has not replied

  
Newer Topic | Older Topic
Jump to:


Copyright 2001-2023 by EvC Forum, All Rights Reserved

™ Version 4.2
Innovative software from Qwixotic © 2024