Early Tuesday morning a sailor was found dead at Camp Pendleton. August Provost, 29, was found in a military guard shack; shot, gagged and reputedly burned. He was also an openly gay man prior to entering the military.
Stampp Corbin is a San Diego City Commissioner, LGBT rights activist and former Co-Chair of the Obama LGBT Leadership Council during the presidential campaign.
Not unexpectedly, the information concerning the murder of provost from the Navy is spotty at best. I read a great account of the timeline by City Commissioner Nicole Murray Ramirez, which highlights how quickly those within the LGBT community were able to alert community activists of Provost’s murder, as well as create speculation that his death was a potential hate crime. Of course, we all know that not every murder is a hate crime. The fact that Provost is an African American and gay simply means that a full investigation into the motive of this crime is mandatory.
Rep. Bob Filner (D-Calif.) was at Pendleton for over 5 hours the day of the murder and no one in the Navy thought it was important enough to tell the Congressman. When you do not give full disclosure to Filner, who is Chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, that there has been a murder on base within the last twelve hours, it is not surprising that the victim’s family is outraged and questioning the Navy’s assessment of the situation. I find it refreshing to have a family member of the victim question the military’s motives and not blindly take the Navy’s initial assessment that the murder was not a hate crime. Filner, as well as Rep. Susan Davis (D-Calif.), have called for a full investigation of the murder. Where is Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-Calif.)? Missing in action.
Bilbray has not been a friend to the LGBT community and I have to wonder if his silence has to do with Provost being a gay sailor. I cannot imagine Bilbray ignoring the murder on the base for any other reason. The murder has taken place within Bilbray’s district, he is an avid supporter of the military, but he has said nothing, absolutely nothing about the Provost incident. Bilbray is also a member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee. So Bilbray is a murder at Camp Pendleton unimportant because you don’t like the victim? Are you embarrassed that your support of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell creates a situation where gays and lesbians in the military, like Provost, may be hesitant to tell superiors of harassment because that would be “telling?” What is really telling, is your silence Congressman. A national story and you have no comment. Absolutely astounding. Is your holiday weekend more important than one of our patriotic sailors?
Bilbray does not support gays and lesbians serving openly in the military. I find it unconscionable that Bilbray has not reached out to the Provost family or spoken about the murder. Mr. Congressman, the San Diego community wonders why you are missing in action. Oh that’s right; you are too busy being anti-immigrant to comment on the murder of an American patriot in your district. After all you have spent more time in Washington than in the district you represent. Maybe you don’t know about the Provost murder; too busy having champagne cocktails in the Capital to comment?
Related Links: Shooting, coverup fire confirmed in case of dead Pendleton sailor | More by Stampp | Local gay, man lesbian claim attacks were hate crimes
I know Bilbray moved to the conservative district of criminal Rep. Duke Cunningham to replace him in Congress and changed from a moderate to a conservative to save his political skin, but how can he ignore the murder of a sailor in his district? Even Bilbray’s conservative district expects better from its Congressman. Maybe the voters won’t forget your silence during your run for reelection and will send you a message at the ballot box. Bilbray being vulnerable in the next election is an understatement. His constituents may just say, go home Bilbray. Those of us who are enlightened know a patriot is a patriot, regardless of their sexual orientation. August Provost’s family and your district deserve your voice. Unfortunately, your silence is deafening. Day three and no comment from Bilbray… how long before he responds to his district and the San Diego community at large?
Stampp Corbin is a San Diego City Commissioner, LGBT rights activist and former co-chair of the Obama LGBT Leadership Council during the presidential campaign.
Tags: august provost, hate crimes, LGBT community, sailor, SDNN, sexual orientation
Comment by: Lee Lozano Posted: July 3, 2009, 12:00 pm
Stamp, you hit this one on the nose. I hope everyone reads and post this article on their Facebooks and various other sites to continue to spread the word. We must demand action now!
Comment by: Jim Posted: July 3, 2009, 11:03 pm
Thank you, Mr. Corbin, for this forthright statement.
In the moral calculus of a person like Congressman Bilbray, August Provost’s murder is simply a non-event, because Mr. Provost was a man of absolutely no consequence.
In the first half of the 20th century, none of the Congressmen from Mississippi ever said anything when a black man was hung from in a tree in one of their districts, either.
Mr. Provost was black and gay. We can only guess which trait, in the mind of Congressman Bilbray, more thoroughly invalidated Mr. Provost as a human being.
Comment by: John Posted: July 4, 2009, 12:54 pm
Although I could personally careless of the deceased sexual orientation and race, it is inappropriate for for any politician to become involved in a criminal investigation until the properly trained and equipped law enforcement officials have concluded the investigation.
Outside involvement and assumption that it was a hate crime distort facts and can lead to the truth never being known. As a veteran I can assure you that the persons responsible will be brought to justice, however in this country we fully investigate crimes and the accused has the right to a fair trail, however the only reason the media is dubbing this a “hate crime” is because it’s a better story and draws more attention than just “Sailior Killed”.
For example look at cnn and other sources current events, the funeral of Micheal Jackson is the headline story everyday, and buried in the news are storys like “1 Marine Killed in combat operations” or “Soldier still missing in afganistan”
Comment by: Hunter Posted: July 4, 2009, 3:44 pm
Stampp,
Don’t let hem get away with covering this up!!! You are one of the key people out there who has to keep the pressure on….I know you already know that, but I’m reminding you that this incident could potentially have major implications nationwide. KEEP THE PRESSURE ON - DEMAND A FEDERAL INVESTIGATION!!
Comment by: Belinda Rachman, Esq. Posted: July 4, 2009, 3:55 pm
I am astounded that as a resident of Carlsbad, which is just a few miles from Camp Pendleton, this is the first I have heard of this story. This is huge news. What a horrible thing to happen to a serviceman. We have our own Matthew Sheppard and this is not the lead story on the local news. It seems like more than just Bilbray is unconcerned when a person of color or gay person is murdered. I am sickened by this incident and hope that the guilty parties will be brought to a very swift end.
Comment by: Jim Posted: July 4, 2009, 11:04 pm
John said: “As a veteran I can assure you that the persons responsible will be brought to justice…”
I have to conclude, John, that you are neither black nor gay, because there are very few black people, gay or straight, and even fewer gay people, black or white, who would ever say such a thing. We know better, having witnessed the opposite of what you claim too many times to count.
John also said: “Outside involvement and assumption that it was a hate crime distort facts and can lead to the truth never being known.”
If you read Mr. Corbin’s column, you will see that he is at pains to state that we DON’T know whether or not August Provost’s murder was a hate crime. However, he most reasonable says, “The fact that Provost is an African American and gay simply means that a full investigation into the motive of this crime is mandatory.”
When someone is shot, bound, gagged, and repeatedly burned, we can be certain this is not a routine robbery. Powerful emotions are involved. Given the anti-gay bigotry allowed to flourish in the military and encouraged by many of our churches, and given the anti-black bigotry still encouraged by certain elements of our society, it is most reasonable to wonder if the emotions involved in this murder were fear and hatred.
Comment by: Bill Posted: July 5, 2009, 11:05 am
Thank you Mr. Corbin for this story. This is a very sad situation. I read it and wrote to Whitehouse.org and asked them what are THEY going to do about it. I asked about the investigation, because it was indeed a hate crime. Be it based on sexual orientation or race.
As stated before, a simple robbery or such would maybe an fight, shot, or simple battery. There was too many levels of violence. Whomever did this wanted Provost to suffer. Any crime profiler could tell you this.
Regardless of what one person wrote above, a politician can indeed go to the family of a murdered military person and at least offer their condolences to someone in their district.
Comment by: Angela Brower Posted: July 6, 2009, 7:02 am
Correction to Bill’s email: write to http://www.whitehouse.gov. If you go to whitehouse.org, you get a spoof site of George Bush, and I guarantee nothing will be done.
Everyone should send an email via the REAL White House web site, and demand an investigation.
And looking ahead to the next election: Bilbray needs to be voted out of office.
Comment by: SB Posted: July 6, 2009, 9:10 pm
Mr. Corbin, I think you may be roasting the wrong congressman. Camp Pendleton is located on the stretch between Oceanside and San Clemente, which would make it part of the 49TH district, not the 50th. That district belongs to Congressman Darrell Issa [R].
Comment by: John Posted: July 6, 2009, 10:10 pm
In response to Jim:
Your right I am not African American, nor am I gay. I have however served in combat with and remain very close friends to several black men as well as gay men, and my own brother, also a veteran is homosexual.
My point is simple that regardless of color, gender, sexual preference the crime should and will be investigated so the statement:
“The fact that Provost is an African American and gay simply means that a full investigation into the motive of this crime is mandatory.”
In my opinion implies that it should only be fully investigated because the victim was black, when it should be investigated the exact same way regardless of the race involved. Ask yourself this, would this be such a hot subject if the race and sexual orientation been omitted from the article? Maybe, maybe not, but it does add a sense of outrage, and I am fully behind executing the person or persons involved, its a horrible crime.
Never once did I rule out that it was most likely hate driven, yet I simply wanted to point out how the media, instantly plants the “hate crime” seed, before any facts come out.
About 2 years ago a similar white on white crime was commented in San Clemente and it involved drugs, not race or hate, so let the investigators do their job before jumping the gun so to speak.
Comment by: Jim Posted: July 6, 2009, 11:23 pm
John, thanks for you response, and I accept your explanation.
I am sure, however, that Commissioner Corbin did not mean to imply that the murder of a straight white man should not be investigated, although I guess I can see why, if you read his sentence totally literally, you might think so.
What I believe Commissioner Corbin meant is that the murder of Mr. Provost should be investigated with a much-heightened awareness that this murder could have been motivated by bigotry. If Mr. Provost had been white and straight, the possibility that his murder would have been motivated by bigotry would be much smaller, and so the investigators would conduct the investigation with a different consciousness.
Commissioner Corbin is probably worried, as am I, that the military might ignore or even suppress any evidence that the murder of Mr. Provost was a hate crime.
Comment by: Stampp Corbin Posted: July 7, 2009, 6:53 am
I should have included Congressman Darrell Issa in my criticism as well. Camp Pendleton is in the 49th district, but Brian Bilbray is on the Veteran’s Affairs Committee which is what prompted Congressman Filner, the committee Chairman, to call for an investigation. Additionally, Bilbray’s district is comprised of many military families. It is clear that both Bilbray and Issa should be all over this situation and both have been silent.