Earlier today, Representative Virginia Foxx (R-NC) addressed the U.S. House of Representatives in opposition to a bill expanding hate crime legislation, the bill is commonly known as the Matthew Shepard Act. To help refresh your memory, in October of 1998 Matthew Sheppard was robbed, pistol whipped, beaten, tortured, strapped to a fence post and left for dead in rural Wyoming. His murder made national headlines as it was initially suggested, then proven in a court of law, that he was targeted and killed because he was gay.
In the video below, Rep. Foxx made it clear that she doesn't believe Matthew was killed because he was gay, even though the killers admitted to police they killed him because he was gay, going as far as saying that the story is a "hoax". Pretty much every sensible person that is familiar with Matthew's story and the criminal case believe he was killed because he was gay. She not only said the circumstances relating to his death is a hoax, she said this on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives and while in the presence of Matthew Shepard's mother.Was Rep. Foxx factually incorrect? Yes. Was her statement insensitive? Yes. Will she be a U.S. Representative in 2 years? Probably not.
Just watch.
The Act passed out of the House of Representatives today.
3 comments:
If she is still a rep in 2 years, NC has much bigger issues.
And Matthew Sheppard's mother was present for this lovely diatribe. I cannot find the words...
I know it's an old post, and I am admittedly not an expert, but this news story provides strong evidence for what Congresswoman Foxx said.
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Story?id=277685&page=2 --
But according to McKinney, when he encountered Shepard at the Fireside Lounge, he saw an easy mark.
McKinney told "20/20" Shepard was well-dressed and assumed he had a lot of cash.
Shepard was sitting at the bar, McKinney recalls. "He said he was too drunk to go home. And then he asked me if I'd give him a ride. So I thought, yeah, sure, what the hell," according to McKinney.
All three got in the front seat of McKinney's pickup, and Henderson took the wheel. McKinney told police that at some point Shepard reached over and grabbed his leg. In response, McKinney said, he hit him with his pistol. "I was getting ready to pull it on him anyway," he said.
McKinney says he asked for, and got, Shepard's wallet, which had only $30 in it. But even though Shepard handed over his money, McKinney continued beating him.
When pressed by Vargas as to why he continued beating Shepard after he had already taken his wallet, McKinney said, "Sometimes when you have that kind of rage going through you, there's no stopping it. I've attacked my best friends coming off of meth binges."
-- there's more in that news story. I'd encourage you to read the whole thing.
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