Unfinished Lives

Remembering LGBT Hate Crime Victims

Decorated Sailor Charged with the Murder of Gay Sailor August Provost

August Provost pic on his MySpace page

August Provost pic on his MySpace page

San Diego, CA – The U.S. Navy says that a decorated petty officer has been charged with murder and other offenses in the June 30 slaying of gay Seaman August Provost at Camp Pendleton, California.  Jonathan Campos, 32, has been in military custody since July 1, when the smoldering remains of Seaman Provost were found inside the guard shack where he stood sentry on the night of his murder.  Campos, a Lancaster, CA native, enlisted in the Navy in 2001.  He is a military fuel-system technician who had received numerous decorations, including the Good Conduct Medal.  He has been charged with murder and arson, as well as charges of wrongful possession of a firearm, unlawful entry to a military base, carrying a concealed weapon and stealing military property.  Forensic evidence shows that Provost was shot multiple times with a .45 calibre pistol.  The sentry shack was then torched with Provost’s body inside in order to destroy evidence of the crime.  The Navy continues to deny that the victim was killed because of his sexual orientation.  Instead, naval investigators for NCIS contend that Provost surprised Campos as he was seeking to gain entry to the anchorage where hovercraft were docked in order to set one of them afire, and that Campos shot Provost at that time.  Provost’s family and friends, along with gay rights activists, believe that his sexual orientation played a factor in the murder.  His aunt has told the press that her nephew complained to her about being repeatedly harassed for his homosexuality, and that he had one prime antagonist on base at Camp Pendleton.  Though it is not known whether Campos is that antagonist, both he and Provost served in the same unit, Assault Craft 5.  Ben Gomez, head of the San Diego chapter of American Veterans for Equal Rights, a national LGBT servicemembers organization, said to San Diego 6 that he and other LGBT activists believe Seaman Provost’s murder was a hate crime.  They contend that he was killed after having an argument about his sexuality with an antagonist on base.  They do not find the Navy’s claim credible that Provost was a “random” victim.  While the Navy largely bases their claim that sexual orientation did not play a part in Provost’s murder since he had never filed a complaint with his superiors about being harassed for being gay, family and the LGBT community counter that he could not have felt safe approaching his commanders at Camp Pendleton because of the threat posed to his continuing military service because of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT).  Members of the U.S. House of Representatives from California and Provost’s native Texas are calling for a full investigation into the case.

July 23, 2009 Posted by | African Americans, anti-LGBT hate crime murder, Arson, California, DADT, gay men, gun violence, harassment, Hate Crimes, Heterosexism and homophobia, immolation, military, Perpetrators of Hate Crime, Texas, U.S. Navy | , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Decorated Sailor Charged with the Murder of Gay Sailor August Provost

DADT Claims Another Victim: Gay Sailor August Provost

august-provostBeaumont, TX – East Texas is not what an informed person would call a hotbed of liberalism.  But the East Texas aunt of murdered gay sailor, August Provost, is speaking out against the investigation of the Navy into her nephew’s execution-style murder at Camp Pendleton, California.  Rose Roy of Beaumont claims that a full year before his murder, Seaman August Provost complained that he was being harassed for being gay.  Provost’s lover has corroborated the same story when he spoke out to the press on July 4.  Mrs. Roy and other family members encouraged Seaman Provost to document the incidents and inform his superiors in the Navy about them, but she found out that he was afraid to do so because of the military ban on homosexuality, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT).  She told reporters for KBMT News that he was discouraged by the possibility that the Navy would have launched an investigation into his private life, so he didn’t pursue the matter officially.  Now, the Navy is discouraging any suggestion that Provost, an African American patriot from Houston, TX, was murdered because of his sexual orientation.  A spokesman refuses to give any other motive for the killing.  Provost was shot multiple times, and his corpse was set afire in a guard shack in an apparent attempt to destroy evidence.  According to statistics kept by the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), nearly 13,000 members of the U.S. Military have been discharged under the provisions of the 1993 DADT law.  That amounts to about one person each and every day.  Since President Barak Obama was inaugurated, 284 Americans have been discharged from the military thanks to DADT.  The untold story is the toll in lives lost because of murders that could possibly have been prevented were DADT not in place, not to mention the number of suicides among LGBTQ sailors, soldiers, airmen, coast guardsmen, and marines.

July 6, 2009 Posted by | African Americans, anti-LGBT hate crime murder, California, DADT, gay men, harassment, Hate Crimes, Heterosexism and homophobia, immolation, Law and Order, military, Texas, U.S. Navy | , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on DADT Claims Another Victim: Gay Sailor August Provost

U.S. House Chair Calls for Hate Crime Investigation of Gay Sailor’s Murder

sailor saluteSan Diego, CA – The Chair of the House Veterans Affairs Committee is calling for a hate crime probe into the death of Seaman August Provost, 29, shot to death and immolated in a guard shack on base at Camp Pendleton on Tuesday.  The AP reports that Representative Bob Filner, D-San Diego, chair of the powerful Veterans Affairs committee, has pressed officials for a full investigation into the murder of the African American Houston native who served in the Navy’s Hovercraft unit.  Members of the San Diego LGBT community asked Rep. Filner to intervene on their behalf so that the truth could come out.  The Navy has been traditionally reluctant to reveal details of any homicide involving homosexuality.  The Naval Criminal Investigation Service (NCIS) took a “person of interest” into custody and filed no charges against him, but the Houston Chronicle reports on July 3 that he has been released.  Captain Matt Brown, spokesperson for Navy Region Southwest in San Diego said, “Seaman Provost was an outstanding sailor looking forward to a bright future.  He was also a son, a friend and a shipmate, and all of us share in the grief and this sense of loss.  He will most surely be missed by all who loved and cared for him, and by those who served with him.”

July 5, 2009 Posted by | African Americans, anti-LGBT hate crime murder, California, gay men, Hate Crimes, Law and Order, military, Politics, U.S. Navy | , , , , , , , | Comments Off on U.S. House Chair Calls for Hate Crime Investigation of Gay Sailor’s Murder

Gay Sailor Murdered at Camp Pendleton

August PendletonCamp Pendleton, CA – An E-3 sailor was found shot “execution-style” at Camp Pendleton’s Hovercraft Station on June 30.  Privately, investigators confirm a “gay angle” in the slaying.  29 year old Seaman August Provost of Houston, TX was found dead in a guard shack Tuesday at about 3:30 PM.  One as yet unconfirmed report says that in addition to his being shot, Provost’s body was badly burned.  While the Navy will not comment on whether his sexual orientation was related to his murder, other sources allege that the victim and a “person of interest” to investigators had an ongoing argument on sexual matters for some weeks. 10News.com reports that an anonymous source says Provost was murdered by a fellow serviceman during a violent argument over Provost’s sexual orientation.   The suspect in the slaying is being held in the Camp Pendleton brig.  San Diego gay activists and the Servicemembers’ Legal Defense Network (SLDN) are calling for a full inquiry into whether this was indeed a hate crime.  Kaether Cordero, Provost’s boyfriend in Houston, told reporters for the San Diego Union Tribune that his lover was “openly gay but kept his private life quiet for the most part.”  “People who he was friends with, I knew that they knew,” Cordero said.  “He didn’t care that they knew.  He trusted them.”  Provost’s sister, Akalia, said that he had recently complained to his family that someone was harassing him.  His family recommended that he tell his supervisor.  In acu5logoview of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the military policy banning gay servicemembers from the military, Provost would have been unlikely to broach the subject.  He would have had no place to go for counseling or advice, given that many chaplains and psychologists for the Navy would have felt it necessary to comply with DADT and turn a gay-affirming or questioning sailor in to his superiors.  His family describes him as courteous, mannerly, and even a little nerdy, a good son who loved his mother and worked hard to see that she was always well cared for.  He had completed three years of college prior to enlisting in the Navy in March 2008 in order to help finance the rest of his education, according to his uncle. He was studying to become an architectural engineer.  Provost was assigned to Assault Craft Unit 5, nicknamed the “Swift Intruders.”  Investigators for the Navy and the family await the autopsy and toxicology report before definitely confirming that Provost’s murder was an anti-gay hate crime.  His sister told the Union Tribune, “He didn’t deserve anything but a good life.”  As a retired military person said of the case, “This one could get ugly.”

July 2, 2009 Posted by | African Americans, anti-LGBT hate crime murder, California, Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT), gay men, harassment, Hate Crimes, military, Perpetrators of Hate Crime, U.S. Navy | , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Gay Sailor Murdered at Camp Pendleton

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