bobdina
07-03-2009, 05:40 PM
Gay sailor’s death called a ‘hate killing’
By Philip Ewing - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Jul 2, 2009 18:00:26 EDT
Gay activists are demanding answers from the Navy after an openly gay sailor was found dead early Tuesday in a guard shack at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., a victim of what gay rights groups are calling a “hate killing.”
Navy investigators confirmed they considered the death of Boatswain’s Mate Seaman August Provost, 29, a homicide, but they would not confirm that Provost’s sexuality was a factor in his death.
Officials said a “person of interest” was being detained in the brig at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in connection with Provost’s death, but he was not identified, not considered a formal suspect and had not been charged with a crime. A Navy spokeswoman said she did not have information about whether the “person of interest” was a Marine or other service member.
A Navy announcement said investigators had completed an autopsy on Provost’s body, but would not determine an official cause of death until they received the results of toxicology tests.
Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., a member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, told Navy Times on Thursday he has asked the Defense Department and the House Armed Services Committee to investigate whether Provost’s death was a hate crime, after being contacted by San Diego gay rights groups. Filner said he had heard unofficially, from “good sources,” that Provost had been shot and his body burned, although a spokesman for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service would not confirm that detail.
Provost identified himself as gay on his Facebook and MySpace social network pages, and described 18-year-old Kaether Cordero, of Houston, as “the love of my life.”
On Nov. 8, 2008, almost two months after he had reported to Camp Pendleton, Provost wrote on his MySpace page: “I just am going to say a few words. I miss my boyfriend and I am missing all my family back at home ... LOVE YOU ALL ... Miss you KAETHER ...”
Cordero told Navy Times that Provost “was a fun-loving, caring guy,” who liked to fix cars and work out at the gym.
“He was one of those people that just cared about his family and, most of all, his mother — she was his No. 1 over all,” Cordero said. “Everything he did and made was for her, first.”
San Diego and national gay rights groups are pointing to Provost’s death as a reason Congress should repeal the so-called “don’t ask, don’t tell” law, which prohibits gays from serving openly.
Denny Meyer, a spokesman for the American Veterans for Equal Rights, a gay veterans’ group, said he understood many of Provost’s shipmates in Assault Craft Unit 5 knew he was gay, but his serving with them caused no problems. Navy Times was not able to immediately reach other members of ACU 5.
Provost reportedly complained to his family that he was being harassed for being open, but he couldn’t tell his command without violating the prohibition against gays. If he could have served openly, he could have told commanders about the harassment, and that might have prevented his attack, Meyer said.
Filner also faulted the policy because it meant that the Navy never notified Cordero about Provost’s death — he learned about it from a reporter who was calling to ask him questions about it.
“The way this guy’s partner was notified was, somebody called him up and said, ‘You know, your guy was murdered.’ Because of don’t ask, don’t tell, there’s no listing of spouse, or a significant other,” Filner said. “He doesn’t get a very respectful call, as it were. ... To notify the next of kin before it appears in the paper is standard procedure, but because of don’t ask, don’t tell, there no standard procedure.”
Cordero, who will be a freshman this fall at the University of Houston, said he was “devastated” when he learned about Provost’s death, a day after the fact. But he said he hopes his example helps activists repeal don’t ask, don’t tell.
“I think whatever happened with him is going to change everything in the Navy. I do believe this should be a change, seriously.”
Provost joined the Navy last year, his records show; he reported to ACU 5 on Sept. 4. He attended Texas A&M University for three years and, according to a report in the San Diego Union Tribune, hoped to become an architectural engineer.
By Philip Ewing - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Jul 2, 2009 18:00:26 EDT
Gay activists are demanding answers from the Navy after an openly gay sailor was found dead early Tuesday in a guard shack at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., a victim of what gay rights groups are calling a “hate killing.”
Navy investigators confirmed they considered the death of Boatswain’s Mate Seaman August Provost, 29, a homicide, but they would not confirm that Provost’s sexuality was a factor in his death.
Officials said a “person of interest” was being detained in the brig at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in connection with Provost’s death, but he was not identified, not considered a formal suspect and had not been charged with a crime. A Navy spokeswoman said she did not have information about whether the “person of interest” was a Marine or other service member.
A Navy announcement said investigators had completed an autopsy on Provost’s body, but would not determine an official cause of death until they received the results of toxicology tests.
Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., a member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, told Navy Times on Thursday he has asked the Defense Department and the House Armed Services Committee to investigate whether Provost’s death was a hate crime, after being contacted by San Diego gay rights groups. Filner said he had heard unofficially, from “good sources,” that Provost had been shot and his body burned, although a spokesman for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service would not confirm that detail.
Provost identified himself as gay on his Facebook and MySpace social network pages, and described 18-year-old Kaether Cordero, of Houston, as “the love of my life.”
On Nov. 8, 2008, almost two months after he had reported to Camp Pendleton, Provost wrote on his MySpace page: “I just am going to say a few words. I miss my boyfriend and I am missing all my family back at home ... LOVE YOU ALL ... Miss you KAETHER ...”
Cordero told Navy Times that Provost “was a fun-loving, caring guy,” who liked to fix cars and work out at the gym.
“He was one of those people that just cared about his family and, most of all, his mother — she was his No. 1 over all,” Cordero said. “Everything he did and made was for her, first.”
San Diego and national gay rights groups are pointing to Provost’s death as a reason Congress should repeal the so-called “don’t ask, don’t tell” law, which prohibits gays from serving openly.
Denny Meyer, a spokesman for the American Veterans for Equal Rights, a gay veterans’ group, said he understood many of Provost’s shipmates in Assault Craft Unit 5 knew he was gay, but his serving with them caused no problems. Navy Times was not able to immediately reach other members of ACU 5.
Provost reportedly complained to his family that he was being harassed for being open, but he couldn’t tell his command without violating the prohibition against gays. If he could have served openly, he could have told commanders about the harassment, and that might have prevented his attack, Meyer said.
Filner also faulted the policy because it meant that the Navy never notified Cordero about Provost’s death — he learned about it from a reporter who was calling to ask him questions about it.
“The way this guy’s partner was notified was, somebody called him up and said, ‘You know, your guy was murdered.’ Because of don’t ask, don’t tell, there’s no listing of spouse, or a significant other,” Filner said. “He doesn’t get a very respectful call, as it were. ... To notify the next of kin before it appears in the paper is standard procedure, but because of don’t ask, don’t tell, there no standard procedure.”
Cordero, who will be a freshman this fall at the University of Houston, said he was “devastated” when he learned about Provost’s death, a day after the fact. But he said he hopes his example helps activists repeal don’t ask, don’t tell.
“I think whatever happened with him is going to change everything in the Navy. I do believe this should be a change, seriously.”
Provost joined the Navy last year, his records show; he reported to ACU 5 on Sept. 4. He attended Texas A&M University for three years and, according to a report in the San Diego Union Tribune, hoped to become an architectural engineer.