Gay hate crime suspected in Pendleton death
Military authorities are investigating the death of a Camp Pendleton-based sailor found in a guard shack, and local gay activists said it may have been a hate-crime slaying at the hands of a fellow serviceman.
August Provost of Houston, Texas, was found dead on the western side of the North County Marine Corps base about 3:30 a.m. Tuesday, said Doug Sayers, a spokesman for Navy Region Southwest.
Investigators consider the death of the 29-year-old boatswain’s mate a possible homicide, though a final determination is on hold pending autopsy results, Sayers said. He confirmed that a “person of interest” in the case has been arrested and is being held in a Camp Pendleton brig.
The potential suspect’s name was not released. Ben Gomez, head of the San Diego chapter of American Veterans for Equal Rights, a national advocacy group for gay and lesbian military personnel, said he and other local activists believe Provost’s death was a hate crime.
Citing unnamed sources with access to a report on the seaman’s death, Gomez said Provost was killed during an argument with another sailor over the victim’s sexual orientation.
On his MySpace page, Provost made references to same-sex dating and identified another Houston man as “the love of my life.” Provost, who enlisted in the Navy in March 2008, was a member of Assault Craft Unit 5, whose personnel are assigned to duties involving hovercraft.
Tags: don't ask don't tell, gay, Military, pendleton, SDNN
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Comment by: Alberto C. Vargas Posted: July 1, 2009, 8:16 pm
It seems like a bit of stretch here. The incident is way too recent, not enough facts have been divulged. Only political agenda-driven propaganda would lead someone to “jump the gun” here and hastily begin to call this a “hate crime” against a gay person.
The deceased sailor may have made MySpace references regarding his sexual orientation, so what? Millions of other people do.
If, in fact, this is eventually deemed a homicide, which apparently hasn’t yet, then the vile human being who committed such an atrocious act should be punished to the fullest extent. There’s no defense for taking someone’s life.
But, please, hold off on the socio-political implications of this case. It comes across as self-serving at such an early stage.
Comment by: ON NAME Posted: July 2, 2009, 7:19 am
MY COUSIN WAS THE BEST, HE WOULD WALK AWAY FROM PEOPLE WHO WANTED TO FIGHT HIM BECAUSE IT WAS NOT WORTH IT. NO MATTER WHAT PEOPLE THINK OF THE REPORTS THAT ARE COMING IN ABOUT HIS LIFE. MY COUSIN WAS A PERSON, FREIND, AND SON. HE WAS LOVED BY ALL THAT CAME IN CONTACT WITH HIM. HE WAS A PERSON THAT WOULD BEFRIEND YOU NO MATTER WHAT. I LOVE AND MISS HIM SO MUCH
Comment by: Walt Posted: July 2, 2009, 3:59 pm
In response to Mr. Vargas’ comments, no one is “jumping the gun”. No one is marching or raising hell; they are simply stating their belief. The article merely states that some gay activists believe that due to information concerning Mr. Provost, it MAY be a hate crime. This is important because hate crimes are so under-reported by the media and often not declared as such by the police when they clearly are, it is necessary to bring as much attention to these cases as possible. I wonder what issues you may have if this bothers you so.
Comment by: josh plimbly Posted: July 9, 2009, 3:52 am
i can’t belive this outrage if this was a hate crime me and others in the gay community should ensure the person responsable is severly punished
Comment by: Dell Posted: July 12, 2009, 10:38 am
Also in response to Mr. Vargas otherwise well stated comment, it is important to understand why hate crimes are punished differently than ‘normal’ crimes involving the same amount of physical injury or death: Hate crimes have the intention or at least the effect of attempting to intimidate a whole GROUP of people, not just that one individual (lynchings in the South, Matthew Shepard in Wyoming; same logic when victim is a Federal officer or policeman, etc vs. just a regular person).
In this case, the crime is suspected of being a hate crime at least partially because (according to an interview with his mother on NPR) August Prevost had recently told his mom that he was being harrassed for being gay. He did not report this to his supervisors for fear of the infamous “don’t ask don’t tell” policy which is likely hampering the investigation to this day.