Jonathan Joss, an actor best known for his roles in Parks and Rec, and as the voice of John Redcorn in King of the Hill, was murdered in a homophobic hate crime outside his destroyed home in San Antonio, Texas, yesterday.
Tristan Kern de Gonzales, Joss's husband, has released a statement saying that the attack which resulted in Joss being shot and killed by a neighbour, was part of a long running series of incidents spurred on by homophobia, and that Joss was targeted because he was gay.
'My husband Jonathan Joss and I were involved in a shooting while checking the mail at the site of our former home. That home was burned down after two years of threats from people in the area who repeatedly told us they would set it on fire. We reported these threats to law enforcement multiple times and nothing was done.' The statement read.
'Throughout that time we were harassed regularly by individuals who made it clear they did not accept our relationship. Much of the harassment was openly homophobic.
'When we returned to the sire to check our mail we discovered the skull of one of our dogs and its harness placed in clear view. This caused both of us severe emotional distress. We began yelling and crying in response to the pain of what we saw.
'While we were doing this a man approached us. He started yelling violent homophobic slurs at us. he then raised a gun from his lap and fired.
'Jonathan and I had no weapons. We were not threatening anyone. We were grieving. We were standing side by side. When the man fired Jonathan pushed me out of the way. He saved my life.
'Jonathan is my husband. He gave me more love in our time together than most people ever get. We were newlyweds. We picked Valentines Day. We were in the process of looking for a trailer and planning our future.
'He was murdered by someone who could not stand the sight of two men loving each other.
'I was with him when he passed. I told him how much he was loved.'
Police reported that Joss was found by the side of the road outside his former residence with multiple gunshot wounds. Paramedics attempted to save his life, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
A neighbour of his, Sigfredo Alvarez Ceja, fled the scene in a vehicle, but was apprehended by police soon after. He has been booked for murder, and police say the investigation is ongoing. Despite the statement made by Tristan Kern de Gonzales, the San Antonio police department are claiming that the incident was not a hate crime and that there is 'no evidence to indicate that the Mr. Joss's murder was related to his sexual orientation'.
This was not the first time that Joss and his husband had spoken about the homophobic abuse they had received from their neighbours, and the fire that destroyed their home, whilst not proven to be arson, was possibly a part of this string of vandalism and abuse. The fire at their home, which was built by Joss' father and was his home his entire life, was destroyed a few months prior, and a GoFundMe was set up to help with relocation costs. Joss also lost three of his dogs in the fire.
It is clear from the long running reports from Joss and his husband that they were targets of abuse, vandalism, and harassment due to them being gay. There were multiple reports online from the two of them about the abuse they had suffered for months leading to this event. The police refuse to take this into account, to take the context of the shooting and the fact that the man who murdered Joss was yelling homophobic abuse, into account. They are refusing to class this clear incident of homophobia as a hate crime. So if a long running series of incidents, culminating in someone being murdered whilst their killer yells homophobic abuse at them doesn't count as a hate crime what does? The San Antonio police department are making it clear in their reaction to this incident that nothing will, and that they don't care about the LGBTQIA+ community in their area.
Multiple news and media outlets are also failing to label the incident as a hate crime, or as an act of homophobia, simply labelling it as a 'dispute' with a neighbour. Headlines are saying that he was shot, or that he was killed, but it's clear to anyone looking at this that he was murdered, and that the man who murdered him wanted him dead.
The LGBTQIA+ community are under constant attack, our rights and protections are being eroded, we're being demonised and villainised, our safety is being discounted. Now is not the time to shy away from the correct language. Painting this incident, and others like it, as a simple disagreement gone bad strips it of important context, and takes away blame. It takes the blame away from everyone who has been building this atmosphere of intolerance and hate. Every public figure who has failed to support the queer community, ever lawmaker who has taken away rights, every media outlet who has allowed homophobic and transphobic voices to air their views, they've all helped to make this vicious murder possible, and now they want to ignore why it happened to avoid that blame.
Jonathan Joss was murdered by a man who hated him for being gay, who killed him because he was gay. This was homophobia. This was a hate crime. Saying otherwise is further violence.
The police have made it clear the motive is unknown. They had been fighting with each other for years, according to neighbors .
ReplyDeleteFighting for years why? Because one was horribly homophobic and wanted to ruin the life of the other perhaps?
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