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Matthew Shepard’s family responds to Jason Collins’ moving tribute

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 21:31:00 +0000

On Monday, Jason Collins made history as the first openly gay, active male athlete on a major sports team. In his coming-out piece for Sports Illustrated, Collins acknowledged that he wore the number 98 while playing for the Boston Celtics as a tribute to Matthew Shepard, the 21-year-old University of Wyoming student who was murdered for being gay in October 1998.

In an interview with Fox Sports, Shepard's parents, Dennis and Judy, revealed that they were moved to tears by the news of Collins' tribute:

“It made me cry,” Judy Shepard told FOXSports.com during an interview Monday afternoon. “It was really quite a tribute, and I was very honored. And I know Matt would be thrilled..."

"I would really love to speak to him, because I know Judy and I would just like to thank him,” Dennis Shepard said. “Because, No. 1, he had the courage to come out, period, and No. 2 that he wore 98 in honor of Matt, the year that he died.

“(Collins) couldn’t have been that old (when it happened), so it must have had a tremendous impact on him, the story behind Matt, for him to want to do that. And then to wear it all this time without telling people why until today, that’s incredible.”

New Jersey neo-Nazis arrested in assaults on Middle Easterners

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 23:33:00 +0000

Federal authorities in New Jersey are ending 2012 with the arrests of two accused white supremacists who allegedly went on a hate-filled assault spree last New Year’s Eve.

Christopher Ising, 31, a reported member of the Atlantic City Skins from Waretown, N.J., was arrested today by FBI agents on an indictment charging him with conspiracy and commission of a hate crime assault. Those laws are contained in the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, passed by Congress in 2009.

Michal Gunar, 27, of East Windsor, N.J., also faces the same federal charges. He is an alleged member of another New Jersey-based white supremacist group known as the Aryan Terror Brigade, the FBI said in announcing the arrests.

The arrests grew out of a New Year’s Eve party last year in East Brunswick, N.J., where Ising hosted a “meet and greet” gathering for white supremacists, FBI officials said.

Amish convicted of beard-cutting hate crimes

Fri, 21 Sep 2012 14:06:00 +0000

The leader of an Amish splinter sect in Ohio and 15 of his followers were convicted of federal hate crimes today for forcibly shaving the beards and hair of breakaway members of the religious community.

Amish bishop Samuel Mullet, 66, faces a minimum of 10 years in prison when he is sentenced, likely late this year.

The case marks the first convictions in Ohio under the federal Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crime Prevention Act, enacted in 2009.

The verdict by a jury composed of seven men and five women came after four days of deliberations, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported.

Prosecutors convinced the jury that the shearing of the beards and hair of Mullets’ perceived enemies rose above the level of a simple assault to that of a religious-motivated hate crime. Those involved in the attacks and all the victims are members of the Amish faith – traditionally pacifists who usually resolve their disputes internally without law enforcement.