by way of a non-introductory introduction, i should warn you that this is a two-part diary, owing to the topic and the length of the diary.
mostly, i wanted to stress the context, the nitty-gritty (in an abbreviated fashion), and the experiences of and becaue of these events. for me, context is just about everything.
what sparked this diary post was the incredibly profound, sometimes disquieting but more often reasonable and not too trolled set of postings from JamesB3's recent diary entry ABC plans to "debunk" Matthew Shepherd killing.
Part 1 deals with two extraordinary hate crimes: the murder of james byrd, jr. in june, texas; and the murder of matthew shepherd, in wyoming in october 1998. Part 2 will focus on san francisco in november of 1978. the key players are: dan white; jim jones, harvey milk; congressman leo ryan; jackie speier; the people's temple and its 913 members living jonestown, guyana; and, lastly, san francisco itself.
part 1: from Jasper to Laramie: 2 Hate Crimes that Shock a Nation
Part 1: From Jasper to Laramie: 2 Hate Crimes That Shock a Nation
matthew shepherd was killed just four months after the grisly murder of a texas man, james byrd jr. byrd, a black man, was killed on june 7, 1998 by three white men. shepherd, a gay man, was brutalized by two ostensibly straight men october 6, 1998 and died five days later. there is a part of me that can not disentangle the hate crime that took byrd's life from the hate crime that took shepherd's life insofar as they both were so markedly violent, so markedly dehumanizing in the manner and (literal) execution.
however, public outrage and shock over these deaths had little impact on policy-making processes. byrd's murder was acknowledged as a "hate crime" allowing for federal assistance and funds to help the investigation and trial activities in texas; matthew shepherd's murder however, was not per se designated as such. therefore, they did not qualify and could not petition for federal assistance to help with the prosecution or investigation teams. furthermore, as sexual orientation was not at that time one of the "groups" covered under the federal hate crimes statutes, shepherd's case would not have been eligible.
in 1998, wyoming had no hate crime law on the books; it remains as one of the states still in 2004 with no hate crime statutes. texas, however did have a hate crimes law, signed into law in 1993 by then-governor ann richards. it was a good start, although far from being as robust, comprehensive or thorough as advocates wanted and needed.
byrd's death did catalyze texans to introduce a far more comprehensive hate crime bill ("the james byrd jr. hate crimes act") which decisively passed in the texas house. the bill stalled in the texas senate. when petitioned to intervene to dislodge the bill in the senate, governor george bush would not. a direct face-to-face appeal to bush from byrd's daughter produced no results either, not even a kleenex for byrd's daughter to wipe her eyes when she cried. according to governor bush " all crime is a hate crime."
in wyoming, where no state hate crime law existed prior to shepherd's death, none was passed as a result of it either. federally, efforts to improve, codify and strengthen current the crime laws have been routinely halted by republican leadership in both chambers.
the three separate trials of the 3 men who murdered byrd spanned almost all of 1999. all 3 juries found their defendant guilty of first-degree murder; only one of the men was spared the death penalty. the first trial took place in february in jasper, texas, where the crime was committed. the jury for this trial was all white save for one black man who was the foremen of it. the second trial - owing to a change in venue requested by the prosecutors to guarantee a non-prejudicial jury -- did not begin until september. no blacks were on the jury, and although there were 2 latino/hispanic men empanelled, they were alternates. the third and last trial, once again in jasper, concluded on november 18th (a day which will resurface later in the diary entry, only 21 years earlier). like the second trial, this one also had a jury which had neither any blacks nor latinos/hispanics.
october 25, 1999 was the first day of the trial of aaron mcKinley for the murder of matthew shepherd. coincidentally, october 25th was the first day of jury selection for the final defendant in byrd's slaying. russell henderson's trial for the murder of matthew shepherd ended abruptly in april with his sentencing on april 5th.
the entire process for these two crimes, trials and sentencing extended over seventeen months. both murders were grisly, and shocked the nation, all five defendants (3 in the byrd killing and 2 in the shepherd killing) were found guilty. two of byrd's killers have been sentenced to die. the remaining three men are sentenced to life in prison.
but a little over two decades prior to these 2 hate crimes, in 1978, a constellation of events as disorientating and grisly and unimaginable transpired. what this constellation of events had in common was a city. and when all was said and done, to suggest that justice was never served would be an understatement.
the city? san francisco. And to be most exact, the eleven days between november 18th and november 28th, 1978. in the span of just eleven days, everything in one of america's most progressive and liberal-leaning of cities became untethered.