It's been many months since we've heard anything about the execution-style slaying of three young students in Newark last fall (and the attempted killing of a fourth, who survived a bullet wound to the head). Last fall, only Blue Jersey and a few LGBT media outlets reported on the fact that at least one of the victims was perceived to be gay and that the killings may have been hate crimes.We are told that friends of the victims have come forward to ask why the identities of the murdered teenagers, and the lone survivor, have been suppressed, claiming that "at least one or more of the victims were gay". Media reports indicate that two of the victims were sexually molested before being killed. Though authorities suggest robbery was the motive, some in the community say they were targeted because they were gay. Now thanks to the Washington Blade's reporting, the truth may finally surface.One of four college students shot execution style in a Newark, N.J., schoolyard in August 2007, the day before they planned to attend a Gay Pride festival in New York, was sexually assaulted during the incident, according to new charges filed last week against a defendant in the case. [...]
The Essex County, N.J., prosecutor's office charged Shahid Baskerville, 16, with three counts of murder, three counts of aggravated sexual assault and one count of aggravated criminal sexual assault, among other charges, in a crime that shocked the Newark community and attracted international media attention.
Paul Loriquet, a spokesperson for the prosecutor's office, said the victim of the sexual assault was a female but declined to disclose whether she was the female student who died or the one who survived the attack. Loriquet said the sexual assault, allegedly committed by Baskerville, involved "sexual penetration during a robbery and sexual penetration while armed." He was also charged with one count of unlawful possession of a weapon -- a machete.
Statements last year by Newark police and the city's mayor, Corey [sic] Booker, that the sole motive behind the murders appeared to be robbery drew sharp criticism from gay activists, who demanded that authorities investigate the incident as a possible anti-gay hate crime. To address an obvious point:[Newark Pride co-founder Laquetta] Nelson and [Garden State Equality chairman Steven] Goldstein said the fact that one of the attackers allegedly sexually assaulted one of the female victims does not lessen the possibility of a hate crime because lesbians are sometimes sexually assaulted by male perpetrators in hate crimes.
"They say all we need is a good man to turn us around," Nelson said. "Many lesbians have been raped and beaten, and that's still a hate crime, even though it involves someone of the opposite sex." The authorities in Newark need to be honest about what's happened, however painful that may be for the community.
And for all the media frenzy around the story last year, the traditional news media has so far been complicit in ignoring this critical aspect of the story. Was it pressure from the families? from Newark authorities? a lack of interest? an unwillingness to offend?
Members of the traditional media have known the facts surrounding this case since the fall. Some knew them before we did and yet they've remained silent. Whatever their reason for not reporting it, they need to understand that their inaction has consequences.
The homophobia that haunts some parts of the black community won't go away by ignoring the facts. The black community shouldn't wait for the next Terrance, Dashon, Iofemi and Natasha to happen before this issue becomes a topic of discussion. And thats less likely to happen if the news media neglects their duty to investigate and report the facts -- all the facts.
Update: I guess it's at least been acknowledged now, even if it's just "he said, she said" type reporting. Buried at the very end of a Star Ledger article yesterday is this: Among those present at the arraignment were gay and lesbian activists who contend that authorities have not devoted enough attention to the question of whether the students were killed because at least one of them was openly gay.
Steven Goldstein, chairman of Garden State Equality, and James Credle of Newark Pride Alliance said they want prosecutors to investigate whether the defendants could be indicted under the state's hate crime statute.
Asked about the issue, [assistant Essex County prosecutor Thomas] McTigue said his office has investigated whether any hate-crime violations were present in the murders but so far has not found evidence that would apply under the statute. |
